Qass. 



Book > V7 Id 

U37 



4 




X onion 



m 



EXERCISES FOR LADIES; 

CALCULATED TO 

PRESERVE AND IMPROVE BEAUTY, 

AND 

TO PREVENT AND CORRECT PERSONAL DEFECTS, 

INSEPARABLE FROM CONSTRAINED OR CARELESS HABITS : 
FOUNDED ON 

PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



BY DONALD WALKER. 



SECOND EDITION, 



WITH 

GREAT ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. AS WELL AS ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS 
FROM MADAM. DULCKEN ON THE PROPER SEAT AT THE PIANOFORTE, 
FROM Mli; BOCHSA ON THE PROPER SEAT AT THE HARP, 
FROM MR.SCHULZ ON THE PROPER SEAT AT THE G-UITAR, 
&C. &C. &C. 



LONDON: 

THOMAS HURST, 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. 

1837. 



MEDICAL TESTIMONIALS. 



LETTER FROM DR. BIRKBECK TO THE AUTHOR. 

38, Finsbu?y Square; Dec, 10, 1835. 

Mv DEAR Sir, 

To promote and to regulate the exercise of youug 
ladies, are objects not less important than difficult ; and 
I am delighted to see an attempt made, by the author 
of*' Manly Exercises,** for their accomplishment. 

With your general views regarding female development, 
which are clear and well expressed, I thoroughly agree : 
and I am not less gratified by what you have stated 
respecting the necessity of early freedom from all restraint 
of a personal kind, of equality of action and position, and 
of constant, appropriate, well regulated exercise, to the 
production alike of grace, of health, and of vigor. You 
have contributed materially, I am pursuaded, to prevent 
the occurrence of unequal enlargement of muscular parts, 
the first and slightest species of deformity ; and the still 
more serious deviations from the correct form of the body, 
which occur when that curious and beautiful mechanical 
fabric the spine, becomes deranged. The means which you 
have proposed for the correction of such casualties when 
ihey do occur, are excellent; and will, I trust, quickly 

6 



vili. 



MEDICAL TESTIMONIALS. 



supersede the use of all tliose incou.sisteiit and uuscieiititic 
expedients, which under the pretest of producing support 
and extension, augment the essential cause of deformity, 
by crippling the natural actions, overloading the weakened 
frame, and exerting much unequal and painful pressure. 

The modes of action which, in your work, you have 
proposed as exercises for ladies, are good ; and some of 
them are interesting and amusing. It has occurred to me 
often to observe, that for the recommendation of suitable 
and sufficient exercise, it was not enough powerfully to 
display its ultimate importance to the well-being of the 
individual; it was necessary to secure its adoption, to 
render it attractive likewise. Hence, the advantage of 
dancing; and hence the advantage of the Indian Exercise, 
which by its elegance, variety, and moderation, will, I 
doubt not, when your work has been extensively circulated, 
become a general favorite. Indeed, I am not acquainted 
with any modifications of action, which in conferring grace, 
facility, and power, can be compared with the Indian 
Exercise. 

That in this new endeavour to improve the physical 
condition of our species — and in this instance^ unquestion- 
ably the most interesting portion— I hope you may be 
eminently successful, after what I have written upon the 
subject, cannot be doubted : and I remain ever, my dear Sir, 

Very sincerely and faithfully yours, 

GEORGE BIRKBECK. 

Donald Walker, Esq. 



MEDICAL TESTIMONIALS. 



IX. 



LETTER FR03I DR. COPLAND TO THE AUTHOR. 

Dear Sir, 

I have been very much pleased by the perusal of 
your book on the Exercises for Ladies,'* &c. 

I agree with you in the opinion, that the universal and 
perpetually operating cause of deformity in young ladies is 
the *^ one-sidedness*^ with which nearly every action in 
common life is performed. Of the safety and efficacy of 
the exercises you recommend, I have no doubt. The 
Indian Sceptre Exercise is the most efficient and most 
graceful of any hitherto devised. 

Upon the whole, I esteem the Exercises described to be 
the best calculated, of any means that have come to my 
knowledge, to prevent deformity, to remedy it in most 
cases, and to promote a healthy physical development. 

I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 

JAMES COPLAND, m.d. f.r.s. &c. 

Buhtrode Street; 10 Dec. 1835. 

To Donald Walker, Esq. 



EXTRACT FROM MR, COULSON's EXCELLENT WORK 
ON DEFORMITIES OF THE CHEST. 

*^ Donald Walker clearly demonstrates the truth of the 
proposition, that the ' one-sidedness with which almost all 



X. 



MEDICAL TESTIMONIALS. 



the acts of life are performed, is the general cause of the 
greatest aud most universal deformity, and that its pre- 
vention requires an equal aud similar use of the other side.' " 
I deem the Indian Exercises, first described in Europe 
by Donald Walker, in his ' Exercises for Ladies,' as 
greatly preferable to all others, both in these and in 
every other deformity of the chest." 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



NEWLY OBSERVED FACT AS TO THE CAUSES 
OF DEFORMITY IN YOUNG WOMEN CON- 
STITUTING A PRINCIPLE PECULIAR TO 
THIS WORK, 

Few young women are exempt from 
some degree of deformity. This always 
increases with age^ unless means of pre- 
vention are either intentionally or acciden- 
tally employed. 

In order to employ such means^ innu- 
merable parents have watched with anxiety 
the ostensible operation of the causes pro- 
ducing deformity in their daughters^ and 
especially the greatest and most universal 



Xil. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



of deformities. Few have imagined that 
these causes are almost as palpable as their 
effects, — that they are their peculiar modes 
of performing nearly every act of their lives ! 

But this is less surprising than that 
medical T\Titers^ so far as I am acquainted 
with them^ should, with regard to such 
deformity, have generally failed to give 
simple and lucid ^dews, in due succession, 
of the structure and functions of the parts 
chiefly affected, of the causes acting upon 
them, of the uniformity with which these 
exert one lateral action, of the oiie-sidedness 
which characterizes aU of them, and of the 
clear indication of the means of prevention, 
namely, a little other-sidedness^ which this 
knowledge of the cause presents. 

Under such cu'cumstances, it is not won- 
derful that the teachers of exercises, who 
are generally destitute of physiological know- 
ledge, should have hitherto proposed inade- 
quate and ridiculous means — exercises which, 
in almost eveiy instance, have been either 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



xiii. 



uselessly severe^ or unmeaning and fri- 
volous. 

The materials^ however^ on this important 
subject have been almost as ample as could 
be desired. Nothing has been wanted but 
a very little analytical enquuy^ and an 
orderly disposition of well known facts. 

I have^ accordingly^ selected the most 
striking of these facts, have put them in a 
somewhat clearer point of \dew^ have em- 
ployed upon them the analysis and gene- 
ralization they seemed to require^ and have 
clearly established the truth that the 

OXE-SIDEDXESS WITH WHICH ALMOST ALL 
THE ACTS OF LIFE ARE PERFORMED^ IS 
THE GENERAL CAUSE OF THE GREATEST 
AND MOST UNIVERSAL DEFORMITY^ AND 
THAT ITS PREVENTION REQUIRES AN EQUAL 
AND SIMILAR USE OF THE OTHER SIDE. 

I can quote no higher authority in con- 
firmation of this new and fundamental 
principle than that of Dr. Copland, who, 
in his letter to me, says ^' I agree with you 

b 



xiv. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



in opinion, that the universal and perpetually 
operating cause of deformity in young ladies 
is the ^ one-sidedness^ with which nearly every 
action in common life is performed 



GENERAL UTILITY OF EXERCISES^ FOR 
THE PREVENTION OR REMOVAL 
OF DEFORMITIES. 

Medical witers of all countries have 
strongly insisted upon the utihty of exercise. 

'^The age of infancy/^ says Tissot^ a 
French writer^* ^^is consecrated by nature 
to those exercises which fortify and strengthen 
the body, and not to study, which enfeebles 
it^ and prevents its proper increase and deve- 
lopment.^^ 

This first epoch of life/^ says Sinibaldi, 
an Italian writer^t ^^to the age of seven^ 
ought to be entirely consecrated to the per- 
fect development of the organization of chil- 

* On the Health of Men of Letters, 
t On the Science of Man, or Anthropologj. 
3 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



XV. 



dren^ and by the agency of physical education^ 
to render them as healthy^ robust and 
strongs as the nature of man will permit.^^ 

^^The mind ought never to be cultivated 
at the expense of the body/^ says Spurzheim^ 
a German witer:* physical education ought 
to precede that of the intellect^ and then 
proceed simultaneously with it^ mthout cul- 
tivating one faculty to the neglect of others; 
for health is the base^ and instruction the 
ornament of education. 

He [who is thus brought up] has gained/^ 
says Brigham^ an American writer^t what 
is far^ very far more valuable than any 
mental acquirements which a child may 
make^ viz. a sound body^ well developed 
organs^ senses that have all been perfected 
by exercises^ and stamina which will enable 
him in futm*e hfe to study or labour with 
energy and without injury.^^ 

* Essay on the Elementary Principles of Education, 
t ^Vork on Education, by A. Brigham of Hartford, 
Connecticut, U. S. 



XVI. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



In every system of education/* says Dr. 
Marshall Hall^ at female seminaries^ as 
well as at boys^ boarding-schools^ a plan of 
regular and active exercises should form an 
essential part; the \^"ant of exercise not only 
leads to general feebleness of the frame^ and 
of the mind^ but frequently it sadly inter- 
feres with the growth and development of 
the form."^ 

No ailificial means/^ says Dr. DufBn^ 

in his excellent work on ^ Lateral Defonnitv 

*/ 

of the Spine/ ^^can be regarded as substi- 
tutes for acf/t*e andjudiciously guided exercise,''' 
Exercise in the open ahy^ says Dr. 
Paris^ is essential to the well-being of 
every person.-'^ 

These extracts afford specimens of the 
opinions of the ablest physicians of various 
countries, respecting the utility of exercises. 



* On Diseases of Female 1 outb. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



XVils 



PECULIARITIES OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM 
OF EXERCISES. 

It is universally complained that the 
exercises for ladies at present taught are^ in 
many instances frivolous, in other instances 
severe, in all destitute of system. 

It is my wish here to combine whatever is 
really good in the common exercises for 
ladies, and in such portion of the miUtary exer- 
cises as is sometimes taught them, to reject 
what is injurious, to add what seems equally 
new and necessary, to define the precise ob- 
ject of these exercises, to give them an en- 
lightened direction — a direction conformable 
to the neiv and peculiar preventive principle 
stated at the beginning of this Advertisement y 
and to present a system suited to the female 
constitution and character. 

Of the exercises which I here recommend, 
none accordingly require more strength than 
the young woman possesses, none entail the 

b2 



XVlll. ADVERTISEMENT. 



slightest inconvenience, and all^ while they 
best bestow healthy strength and activity^ 
are calculated to preserve beauty and grace. 
The whole^ I trusty are well suited to the 
development of the physical faculties in 
young females, without impeding the perfec- 
tion of the moral ones. 

Under '^^Physiological Principles/^ 
on which are founded the exercises here 
employed^ the introductory views which I 
give of the structure of the body as con- 
nected with exercise^ — of its functions as 
affected by exercise, — of the constraint to 
which it is ^\Tongly subjected, — of the debi- 
hty which this causes, — of the wrong posi- 
tions which result from this debility, and 
fi'om the particular pursuits of education 
when ill directed, — of the deformity in which 
these terminate, — of the injury to health and 
to intellect which accompanies this, — and 
of the particular and special utihty of exer- 
cises, — these \dews will be acceptable to 
every parent who desires to know the rea- 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



xix. 



soiling by which is guided the education of 
those who are dearest to him. 

The Particular Exercises/^ as 
akeady said^ equally reject whatever is frivo- 
lous and whatever is severe^ retaining all 
that contributes to healthy strength, beauty 
of form, and grace of motion. 

To obtain the correct Position of ihe 
Figure/^ the nature of standing, the funda- 
mental position, the proper position in walk- 
ing, and the proper positions in dancing, are 
given.* 

In ^'Exercises for the Arms^^ to increase 
their powder and freedom, the military exten- 
sions for the arms, the Spanish exercise, the 
use of dumb-bells, and, which is far more 
valuable, that of the Indian Sceptres, is 
described — the latter deriving its name from 
the form of the instrument which ladies 

* Military principles and practices are also duly appre- 
ciated throughout this work, as those found, by the most 
extensile experience on the most unfavorable subjects, 
to be upon the whole well calculated to prevent or remedy 
every tendency to deformity. 



XX. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



employ, instead of the Indian Clubs used by 
men. — A few of the simplest and most ele- 
mentary of these exercises are now taught to 
soldiers for the same purpose for which they 
are here given: all the more graceful ones 
are here, for the first time, added for ladies. 
The latter will be found to be by far the 
most useful and most beautiful exercises that 
ever were introduced into physical education; 
having vast advantages over the dumb-bells 
in both these respects, and rendering indeed 
all other exercises for the arms quite useless. 
Of these beautiful exercises, both the more 
simple military ones, and the more advanced 
and graceful ones, noiv added, are here for the 
first time described in any work. 

In ^'Exercises for the Limbs/^ to improve 
these, the balance step, the mechanism of 
walking in all the paces, and various exer- 
cises for the feet, are described ; the art of 
Avalking well being particularly attended to, 
and more accurately described than usual. 

Under ^^Combixatioxs of Exercise," 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



xxi. 



is given the only account of Dancing which 
is free from those antiquated Positions^ &c. 
which not only confer a professional look^ 
that of a teacher or public performer^ on the 
dancer^ but giv^e rise to deformities — over- 
stretching of the ligaments of the foot^ flat- 
tening of the instep^ &c.^ and which render 
teachers constrained^ formal^ and automatic 
in all the ordinary actions of life.* Under 
the same general head, new and more accu- 
rate principles of Attitute and Gesture are 
enunciated and illustrated. 

Under '^^Application of Exercises to 
THE Conduct of Life/^ are given a view 
of Deportment^ &c., including observ^ations 

* There is no better test of the worthlessness of a book on 
Dancing, or I should perhaps saj of the danger of trusting 
to it, than its containing that antiquated account of the 
Positions which ensures these effects — by stating that the 
first position is formed by placing the two heels together 
and throwing the toes back, so that the feet form a paraUel 
line;^' and that, in the other positions, *' the feet are to he 
turned so as to retain their primitive direction outward.^' — See 
any book published prior to the date of this second edition 
of Ladies' Exercises." 



XXil. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



on Arbitrary Forms and Natural Politeness^ 
in relation to the spirit of the age; and some 
observations on the Gymnastique de Tron- 
chin^ as the French call it. 

Lastly^ games of exercise are noticed^ and 
the appropriation and guidance of exercises 
are discussed. 



N. B. In the first edition of this work^ I 
confided some subordinate matters^ those 
especially that regard dancings to a profes- 
sional person^ who, in some of these, followed 
an English work, called the Young Ladies' 
Book, without bestowing the knowledge and 
discrimination which I relied on his experi- 
ence to afford. Finding that he had given, 
from that work, — the Common Positions, 
which I have shown to be so injurious to the 
pupil, — the ridiculous inculcation to dance 
steps with Neatness and Precision, at a time 
when, for good reasons, it is deemed grossly 
vulgar to dance steps of any kind, &c. &c., 
I have completely remodelled the article on 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



xxiii. 



Dancings and^ in proper place^ carefully 
exposed both these and all the greater errors 
which the common methods involve^ and 
which^ in fact^ are quite abandoned in the 
best society^ as I shall subsequently shoAv. — 
All such matters, however, though in them 
are followed the spirit and practice of the 
age, I regard as sheer trifling compared with 
the exposition of those physiological princi- 
ples which have now, for the first time, 
shown what are the real causes of deformity, 
and what its modes of certain prevention. 



I beg to refer to Mr. Goadby, of No. 97 B. in the 
Quadrant, Regent Street, as being, of all these Exercises, 
by far the best Teacher with whom I am acquainted. 

Of the same gentleman, or of the Publisher, Mr. Hurst, 
65, St. Paul's Church Yard, may be had the Indian Scep- 
tres, or whatever else may be required in these Exercises. 
Ladies, however, who from any cause find it difficult to 
procure Sceptres, may have made, by any carpenter, two 
pieces of plain and smooth wood, about two feet long, (in- 
cluding the narrower portion for a handle, to terminate in 
a knob), and loaded with ^ lead at their lower and larger 
extremity, so as to furnish any convenient weight, as one, 
one and a half, or two pounds, 

D. w. 

Nov. 3, 1836. 



XXIV. 



COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE 
WORK WAS PRINTED. 

POSITIOiSr AT THE PIANOFORTE. 

The most able and distinguished of our female 
performers, Madame Dulcken, lias honoured me 
with the following excellent account of the position 
at the Pianoforte. — 

In playing the Pianoforte, a common chair 
affords the best seat. The music stools generally 
are not firm, and consequently annoy the per- 
former, and prevent that ease in the execution of 
difficult music, which alone can render it effective. 
The high backed school -chairs are not to be 
recommended, as they give a habit of leaning 
against something ; and the want of this is felt 
when the pupil is obliged to use another seat. 

" The performer should be seated high enough 
to allow the elbow, wrists, and knuckles of the 
fingers to be on a level. 

The feet must rest on the ground. — If 
children are not so tall that their feet may reach the 
ground, it is proper to have a board attached to 
the chair for the feet to rest upon ; and the pedal 
may be raised by a piece of wood being screwed 
upon it, to bring it to a level with the board. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



XXV. 



The body should be so far from the instru- 
ment that the arms may be held in an easy 
position, without drawing the elbows back. 

The head must be erect. Stooping is at all 
times injurious to the chest, but particularly so 
in playing the pianoforte ; and great care should 
be taken to avoid it. If the performer be near- 
sighted, the desk must be brought sufficiently 
forward to prevent the body leaning over the keys. 

The shoulders must be kept down ; and in 
order to avoid derangement and deformity of 
them, it must be remembered, that in playing 
difficult passages, there is frequently a tendency 
to lean to the right side ; either depressing or 
raising the right shoulder. 

" In playing duets also, when one hand only 
is employed, there is a tendency to sit with one 
shoulder forward, in order to make room for the 
other performer. 

" In playing expressive passages, hkewise, 
some persons contract a habit of shrugging up 
the shoulders, which gives a most ungraceful 
appearance to the figure. 

The arms, it should finally be observed, 
ought to move as httle as possible : indeed only 
the fingers ought to play, and the body should be 
kept perfectly quiet, as it is both ungraceful and 
fatiguing to throw the arms, head, &c. about. 

c 



XXVI. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



Two Cases of Deformity of the Chest 

SUCCESSFULLY TREATED BY Mr. CoULSON, 
BY MEANS OF THE 'MnDIAN ExERCISES 
QUOTED FROM THE 2d EdITION OF HIS 
VALUABLE WORK ON THE " DEFORMITIES OF 

THE Chest." 

Mr. Coulson having preferred these exercises to 
every other, and having adopted them in his 
practice, tv70 examples are here afforded of their 
power and efficiency. 

'*The followTng is Mr. Goadby's Report of some 
of the cases in which I had directed him to employ 
the Indian Exercises. 

''First case, recommended to me by Mr. Coulson, 
for the practice of the Indian Exercises. — 24th of 
August, 1836. — A gentleman, aged between 30 
and 40, tall and thin, with a very narrow chest, 
and appearing to have a considerable depression 
at the bottom of the sternum. — Exercise with 
Boys' Clabs, each of only 4lb. weight, set the 
whole of his frame in a state of tremulous agitation. 
The first simple and gentle exercise produced 
instant perspiration, owing to the very weak 
state in which he was. He, nevertheless, made 
considerable exertion for nearly an hour, and 
acquired three of the exercises. — A week after, 
on the 31st of August, having practised in the 



CO M M UN IC ATION S 



XXVll. 



mean time, he was visibly improved in his 
appearance ; his chest was evidently enlarged ; 
and that debility which attended him on his first 
practice had left him. He now made use of the 
first men's sized Clubs, each of 51b. w^eight, and 
performed additional exercises. — At his third 
visit, on the 9th of September, his strength had 
so much increased and his chest expanded, that 
his exercises were performed w4th the 61b. Clubs ; 
and new exercises were added. Practising every 
day, he found the depression of the chest much 
improved, and observed that he had no occasion 
to see me again for a month. — His fourth and 
last visit was on October the 7th, w^hen he appeared 
quite an altered man, exercised with the 61b. 
Clubs w^ith great ease, and was requested, w^hen 
he came again, to bring back his clubs and 
exchange them for others of still greater weight. 

Second case, recommended to me by Mr. 
Coulson. — This case was far worse than the first. 
The gentleman appeared to be under 30, tall, and 
having, from* a bad habit of stooping, or from a 
severe cold, contracted his chest and injured 
his lungs. His voice was hollow; he was 
labouring under severe indisposition and great 
debility; and he expectorated blood. — This being 
a case requiring the a'reatest caution, he took 



xxviii. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



his first exercise on September the 30th, with 
the Clubs used by children of seven years of age, 
viz. of 21b. weight each. The first simple exercise 
caused him a temporary loss of breath and much 
exhaustion. A second exercise only could be 
ventured upon. These could scarcely be prac- 
tised long enough to enable him to retain them; 
the whole time, including rests, not lasting more 
than a quarter of an hour. — Taking the small Clubs 
home with him for practice during three or four 
days, his next visit was on the 4th of October, 
when he stated that he was much better ; and he 
had actually gained so much strength that there 
was no difl&culty in giving him the 41b. Clubs. 
— On his third attendance, only two days after, 
viz. the 6th, he employed the 61b. Clubs, 
his strength having wonderfully improved. He 
soon obtained six of the exercises, which he per- 
formed without the exhaustion attending his first 
attempt. — On October the 11th, his fourth visit, 
after a period of only eleven days, his figure was 
erect, his chest enlarged, he looked more cheerful, 
and was also quite an altered man. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Medical Testimonials , , . vii. 

Advertisement . . . . xi. 

Newly observed Fact as to the Causes of 
Deformity in Young Women — consti- 
tuting a principle peculiar to this work xi. 
General Utility of Exercises for the Pre- 
vention or Removal of Deformities . xiv. 
Peculiarities of the Present System of 
Exercises . . . xvii. 

Communications received after the work was 

printed . . . xxiv. 

Part I. — Physiological Principles on which are 
founded the Exercises here employed . 
Of the Structure of the Body as connected 
with Exercise .... 
Of the Body generally 
Of the Vertebral Column in particular 
Of the Chest 

Important Circumstances to be noted 
c 2 



1 

1 
1 

3 
6 
8 



XXX. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Of the Functions of the Body as connected 

with Exercise . . . .11 

Preliminary Remarks . . .11 

Locomotive Functions thus connected . 11 
Reciprocal Influence of Functions thus 

connected . . . .13 

Nutritive Functions thus connected . 15 
Thinking Functions thus connected . 17 
Effects of Excessive Exercise . . 17 

Of the Constraint to which the Body is 

wrongly suhjected . . .19 

Clear views of Camper on the subject . 19 
Feebler views of later writers . - 21 

Of the Debility which is caused by Con- 
straint . . . . .23 
Anatomico-Pathological Fact and its 

causes . . . . .23 

Of Constraint amounting to Pressure . 26 
Unwise conduct in this respect . . 30 



Of the Wrong Positions which result from 
Debility, and from the employment, in 
the particular Pursuits of Education, 
or the Common Acts of Life, of Mus- 



cles unfavorably situated . . 32 

In Standing . . .33 

In Sitting . . . ^ .34 

In Writing . . . * .35 

In Drawing . . . .36 

In Guitar-Playing . . .38 

In Harp-Playing . . .41 



CONTENTS. 



xxxi. 



Page 

In Riding . . . .43 

In Lying in Bed . . . 46 

In all tlie Acts of Common Life . 47 
The great cause of Deformity thus 
rendered evident . . . 47 

Of the Deformity in which Wrong Posi- 
tions terminate 49 

The injury thus done to the Loco- 
motive Organs and Functions, or 
those on which General Motion 
depends . . . .49 

The Injury thus done to the Vital 
Organs and Functions, or those on 
which Life depends . . 57 

The Injury thus done to the Mental 
Organs and Functions, or those 
on which Thought depends . 60 

Of Mr. Shaw's mistake as to the Origin of 
Lateral Curvature . . .64 

Of the Particular and Special Utility of 
Exercises . - . . .71 

Great Muscular Strength to be depre- 
cated . . . .71 
Weakness to be still more deprecated 72 
Illustrations of the Utility of Exer- 
cises . . . .73 
Objections to Exercise answered 74 
Utility of Exercise in relation to the 



XXxii. CONTENTS. 

Page 

Locomotive, Nutritive, and Think- 
ing Systems . . .76 
Of Exercise as a Remedy of Defor- 
mity . . , .78 



Part II. — Particular Exercises . . 80 

Of the Kinds of Exercise . . 80 

Passive Exercises . . .81 

Mixed Exercises . . . .86 

Active Exercises . . .87 

Position of the Figure . . .88 

Of Standing generally . . 88 
The Position in Standing or Walking 91 

Positions in Dancing . . .92 

Exercises for the Arms . ■. • . 99 

The Extension Motions . . 99 
The Exercise with the Rod or Spanish 

Exercises . . .103 

1st. Exercise . , . 103 

2d. Exercise . . .104 

3d. Exercise . . .104 

4th. Exercise . . .105 

The Dumb-Bells . . . 105 

1st. Exercise . . . 106 

2d. Exercise ... 107 

3d. Exercise . . .107 

4th. Exercise . . . 108 



The Indian Sceptre Exercise 



109 



CONTENTS. XXXIU. 

Page 

The Portion practised with Clubs in 
the Army ... 109 

The New and more Beautiful Portion 
now added from the Indian Prac- 
tice . . . .111 

Exercises for the Limbs . . 116 

The Balance Step . . .116 

Without Gaining Ground . 116 

Gainino^ Ground . .117 

Walking . . . .118 

Walking in general . .118 
General Mechanism of Walking 121 
The Slow Walk or March . 123 
The Moderate and the Quick Pace 124 
The Moderate Pace . . 125 

The Quick Pace . . 126 

Particular Utility of Walking . 129 
Running and Leaping . . 131 

Particular Exercises for the Feet . 132 
Bends and Risings in Position . 132 
Battemens in Position . . 133 

The Circles ... 134 

III. — Combinations of Exercise . 137 

Dancing . . . .137 

Revolution in that Art . . 137 

Cause of that Revolution . 162 
Of the Thighs, Legs and Feet . 166 
Of the Arms and Hands . 169 



I^Xxiv. CONTENTS. 

Page 

Of the Bust . . . l'/6 
Of the Head . . . 

Of the Whole Figure . . 179 

Peculiar Manner . . 182 

Continuance . . . 183 

General Utility of Dancing . 184 

Gesture .... 192 

General Remarks . . 192 



Principle of Attitude in the Fine 
Arts; applicable to Gesture in 
Oratory, to Sculpture, the higher 
species of Painting, &c., as well 



as to Dancing . . .193 

Part IV. — x\pplications of Exercises to the Con- 
duct of Life . . .213 

Deportment . . j . 213 

The Gymnastique de Tronchin . , 264 

Appendix — Games .... 268 

Le Diable Boiteux . . 269 

La Grace ... 269 

Skipping Rope . . 269 

Shuttlecock and Battledoor 270 
Bow and Arrow . , 270 

Appropriation of Exercise . =271 
Guidance of Exercises , . 281 



LIST OF PLATES. 



To face page 



Plate i. Wrong and Eight Position in Writing 35 - 

II. Wrong and Right Position in Drawing 36 - 

III. Wrong and Right Position in Guitar-plajiog 38 - 

IV. Wrong and Right Position in Harp-playing 41- 
V. Wrong and Right Position in Riding 43- 

VI. Wrong and Right Position in Lying in Bed 46- 

VII. The Curved Spine and the Xatural one 53- 

VIII. Fundamental and other Positions 91' 

IX. Positions in Dancing 97 

X. Extension Motions 100- 

XI. Extension Motions 102 

XII. Exercises with the Rod 104 

XIII. Exercises with the Rod 10.5 

XIV. Exercises with Dumb-bells 106 

XV. Exercises with Dumb-bells 108 

XVI. Indian Sceptre Exercise 109 

XVII. Indian Sceptre Exercise 110 

xvriT. Indian Sceptre Exercise ih? 



XXXVl. 



LIST OF PLATES. 



To face pag-e 

XIX. Indian Sceptre Exercise HI 

XX. Indian Sceptre Exercise 112 

XXI. Indian Sceptre Exercise , 113 

XXII. Indian Sceptre Exercise ib. 

XXIII. Indian Sceptre Exercise 114 

XXIV. Indian Sceptre Exercise 115 

XXV. Walking— The Slow Walk 123 - 

XXVI. Walking — The Moderate Pace 125- 

XXVII. Walking — The Quick Pace 126 

XXVIII. Exercises of the Feet — Bends and Batte- 

mens 132 - 

XXIX. Exercises of the Feet -Battemens and 

Circles 134 

XXX. Attitude — The Laocoon 200 

XXXI. Attitude — Mercurv, Dancing Fawn, &c. ... 203 
XXXII. Attitude— Dancing Masters' Attitudes 210 

XXXIII. Deportment — The Curtsey 241- 

XXXIV. Deportment — The Curtsej, (fee 242" 

XXXV. Deportment — Getting into Carriage, <fec. ... 262 

XXXVI. Geary's Exercise-Stays 284 



EXERCISES FOR LADIES. 



PART I. 

PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES ON WHICH 
ARE FOUNDED THE EXERCISES HERE 
EMPLOYED. 



OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE BODY AS 
CONNECTED WITH EXERCISE. 

OF THE BODY GENERALLY. 

In relation to the purpose of exercise, the body 
may be regarded as composed of many levers, 
connected with and moveable upon each other in 
various degrees. 

The BONES more especially constitute the levers, 
upon which all the greater motions depend. 

The JOINTS or articulations at once connect 
these levers, and facilitate their motion. 

B 



2 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



To form these joints, the ends of the bones are 
rounded, remarkably smooth, and lubricated with 
a pecuhar liquid; are surrounded by protecting 
capsules or bags; and are united, laterally or 
otherwise, by ligaments, which limit the direction 
of their motions. — Between some of their ends 
exist also moveable cartilages, by which their 
motions are extended, and all shocks which pass 
through them are diminished. 

The MUSCLES, those fibres enveloped in cellular 
tissues, rendered red by an immense supply of 
blood, and generally disposed in pairs on each 
side of the body, are the moving powers. 

These bundles of muscular fibres form the 
layers and masses of flesh which lie between the 
skin and the various bones, which cover the neck, 
the back, the sides, the pelvis or hanches and 
hips, and which principally give shape to the 
limbs. Almost every muscle is fixed to two differ- 
ent bones by its extremities ; and its middle in 
general passes more loosely over one or more 
joints which it is destined to move. 

Of the peculiar mechanism of muscular motion, 
it is enough here to say, that these muscles re- 
ceive nerves wliich communicate with the lesser 
brain (the cerebel or organ of the will); and 
when that organ wills a movement, it, through 



STRUCTURE OF THE BODY. 



3 



these nerves, excites those muscles which are to 
be the means of the particular operation, to shorten 
and swell up. Now, as the muscles cannot bring 
their fixed extremities nearer to each other with- 
out also brin2:ino' alono: with these, the bones to 
which they are attached, the intermediate joint 
or joints are bent, and motion takes place in the 
limb, or thoughout the body. The purpose of 
contraction being accomplished, relaxation takes 
place. Generally the muscles maintain a kind of 
counter-action, and establish an equilibrium which 
contributes to maintain the primitive form of 
parts. 

Such is the general mechanism of all our 
greater motions. 

OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN IN PARTICULAR. 

One of the most important portions of this 
locomotive fabric is the vertebral column, spinal 
column, or backbone, as it is commonly called. 

The back-bone is a pillar composed of twenty- 
four short bones, called vertebrse, having some- 
what cylindrical bodies before, a bony ring in the 
middle, an irregular projection on each side, and 
another altogether behind. These are placed one 
upon another, the smaller being always upper- 



4 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



most ; and they extend from the large bones that 
support the body when sitting, to the lowest part 
of the head. 

These small bones or vertebrse are connected 
together by the whole of the flat upper and under 
surfaces of their bodies, a thick cartilaginous sub- 
stance being interposed between every two ; and 
they are also connected by the apposition of cer- 
tain lateral projections or processes. The interior 
part of the intervertebral substance is very soft, 
but, at the same time, so elastic as to support by 
its specific force, the whole of the back-bone and 
the parts attached to it. The vertebrae are main- 
tained in their relative position by means of small 
bundles of strong and elastic ligamentous fibres, 
attached firmly to the margins of their bodies, and 
to the projections of every two bones. 

The position of the back-bone or spinal column, 
thus formed and coimected, is, in all its lateral 
relations to the plane on which we stand, per- 
fectly perpendicular; but it is naturally curved 
anteriorly and posteriorly. 

V/hile, by the cartilaginous coimexion of the 
bodies of the vertebrae, and by the disposition of 
some parts of the projections that have been men- 
tioned, joints are formed, and provision is made 
for the column being bent in every direction. 



STRUCTL^RE OF THE BODY. 



5 



other projections allow certain muscles at once 
to take firm hold, and greatly to increase their 
purchase in actaally bending- the spinal column. 

The moving power of the vertebral column is 
composed of these muscles. Being chiefly at- 
tached to the sides and back of each vertebra, 
they form two considerable masses of fleshy fibres 
placed one on each side of the ridge in the mid- 
dle of the back. 

These masses exert such balancing power over 
every separate bone or vertebra in relation to or 
upon that placed immediately beneath it, as to 
keep the whole pile at rest and upright, in regard 
to its lateral aspect. They bend it also both 
laterally and backward. It is chiefly by other 
muscles on the fore part of the body, that it is 
bended forwards. By the whole, it may be bent 
in any requisite direction within certain limits; 
and, after performing its various inflexions, it is, 
by means of its elastic ligaments and other mus 
cles, enabled to regain the vertical position. 

Thus each of the four and twenty vertebrse, or 
small bones of the spinal column, is a lever, whose 
support or fulcrum is the upper surface of the 
somewhat larger vertebra upon which it rests. 

This column is supported by the pelvis, which 
serv'es as a base to the viscera or internal organs 

B 2 



6 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



of the trunk, and is itself supported by the lower 
extremities. 

OF THE CHEST. 

The osseous part of the chest, to which thever- 
tebree of tlie back contribute as well as lend their 
support, constitutes a moveable cuirass, formed 
by these, the ribs, and the breast-bone; and is 
partially covered by tlie shoulder-blades behind, 
whence the arms depend. 

The back-bone, consisting as already seen of 
four and twenty vertebrae, extending from the head 
to the pelvis, and supporting the head and upper 
part of the trunk, is equal to the trunk in length; 
the breast-bone is about seven or eight inches 
long, and composed of three pieces ; and the ribs 
are generally twenty -four in number, twelve on 
each side. 

All the ribs are fixed to the back-bone behind; 
and the uppermost seven, on each side, are also 
fixed to the breast-bone before, and are therefore 
called true ribs. The eighth rib on each side has 
its end turned up, and rests on the seventh; the 
ninth on each side rests similarly on the eighth; 
while the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, are quite 
unconnected in front. That end of each rib 
which is turned forward consists not of bone, but 



STRUCTURE OF THE BODY. 



7 



of cartilage, the elasticity of which, combined 
with the obhque position of the ribs, permits the 
chest to enlarge and contract during the inspira- 
tion or expiration of the air from the lungs. 

The uppermost pair of ribs, which lie just at 
the bottom of the neck, are very short ; the next 
pair are rather longer; the third longer still; and 
thus they go on increasing in length to the seventh 
pair, or last true ribs; after which the length 
diminishes, but without materially contracting the 
size of the cavity , because the false ribs only go 
round a part of the body. Hence the chest has 
a sort of conical shape; or it may be compared to 
the common bee-hive, the narrow or pointed end 
being next the neck, and the broad end under- 
most. — The natural form of the chest, in short, is 
just the reverse of the fashionable shape of the 
waist. The latter is narrow below and wide above ; 
the former is narrow above and wide below. 

The contents of the chest are : first, the heart, 
which is the centre of the circulating system ; 
secondly, the lungs, which occupy by far the 
largest space, and with the delicacy of whose 
operations we are all acquainted. — There are, 
besides, within the thorax, the oesophagus or 
gullet, the trachea or windpipe; and in juxta- 
position with it, the stomach, liver, part of the 



8 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 

intestines, and many nerves. Most of these organs 
are not only of primary importance in themselves, 
but, through the nerves, arteries, &c., their influ- 
ence extends to the head and the remotest parts 
of the limbs, so that when they are injured, health 
is poisoned at its source. 

IMPORTANT CIRCUMSTANCES TO BE NOTED. 

Having very briefly described these parts, it is 
here especially necessary to observe, that the bones 
of adults owe their solidity to an earthy material, 
called phosphate of lime; but that the bones of 
infants contain very little of this matter, are car- 
tilaginous, possess a nucleus of bone only in their 
centres and larger processes, and are, accordingly, 
very soft and flexible. In proportion, however, 
as more earthy matter is added, the bones of chil- 
dren become harder and less flexible; and this 
hardening does not stop at puberty with their 
growth, but increases till five and twenty, when no 
trace of the soft part, or cartilage, in which the bony 
matter was deposited, can be obsei^ved. The pro- 
gress of this hardening of the bones may, by 
various causes, be accelerated or retarded. This, 
obviously, is important in relation to the con- 
strained positions to which girls are subjected. 



STRUCTURE OF THE BODY. 



9 



It is equally worthy of observation that, in 
youth, all the bones are formed in various distinct 
pieces, and that these pieces long continue very 
imperfectly connected. Thus every long bone 
consists of three separate pieces during early 
youth, and these do not become perfectly con- 
solidated till the age of sixteen, eighteen, or later. 
In infancy, the long bones are liable to bend with 
the weight of the body, and to produce deformity. 
— This also is important in relation to the con- 
strained positions to which girls are subjected. 

It is perhaps still more worthy of observation, 
that not only do these causes of flexibility exist 
in the bones in general, bat that, in relation to 
the vertebral column, or back-bone, the substance 
interposed between every two vertebras — the inter- 
vertebral substance, is liable, by long-continued 
pressure or extension, to be permanently altered 
in thickness at any part, and thereby to alter 
also the direction of the vertebral column. — This 
is, perhaps, still more important in relation to the 
constrained positions to which girls are subjected. 

It is most worthy of observation, that, through- 
out the centre of this flexible spinal column, exists 
a somewhat three-sided tube, for the purpose of 
containing the portion of the nervous system, im- 
properly denominated the spinal marrow; a ner- 



10 THYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



vous or brainy production, on which the sensation 
and motion of the body and hmbs depend, and 
which is connected superiorly with the greater 
brain before, and the lesser behind. — This is of the 
very greatest importance in relation to the con- 
strained positions to which girls are subjected. 



11 



OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY AS 
CONNECTED WITH EXERCISE. 

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

The movements of the body are of two kinds. 

The first take place without consciousness or 
any act of the will. They consist of the exer- 
cise of the vital functions for the preservation and 
support of life; as of the stomach, intestines, 
heart, &c. and also of the exercise of all the mus- 
cles when they act involuntarily. 

The second are the movements performed con- 
sciously and voluntarily, when we put in action 
any muscle for a particular purpose. It is these 
last which constitute exercise. 

LOCOMOTIVE FUNCTIONS THUS CONNECTED. 

By exercise, the power of the muscular fibres 
is increased. 

When a limb is moved, the muscles which are 
actuated swell by the more frequent and copious 
flow of blood into them, and heat is developed. 
If the motion be long continued, the limb grovvs 



12 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



stiff; a sensation of lassitude is felt; and a diffi- 
culty of further contraction is the result. If the 
motion were violent, and the blood were called in 
excess into the limb, inflammation might arise. 

If, on the contrary, after intervals of repose, 
we perform the same motions, and many times 
repeat this, we observe an increase of bulk and 
energy in the part, in consequence of the more 
active conversion of nutritious matters into its 
substance, and also a perfection of action which 
was not previously enjoyed. 

Hence, in labouring men, the limbs employed 
in their occupation are larger in proportion than 
the rest : this is the case with the arms of smiths, 
bakers, boxers, wrestlers, &c. and the legs of 
porters, couriers, dancers, &c. 

This increase of size has nothing to do with 
fatness : on the contrary, exercise tends to make 
the body lean. Labouring men, hunters and 
soldiers, are not fat; but their flesh is firm and 
strong, because the habit of exercise has con- 
ferred these qualities on their muscles. 

This effect is still more evident amongst 
animals. 

Those cooped up where they cannot sufficiently 
employ their muscles, have the flesh delicate, 
tender, white and fat, and are without strength 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



13 



enough to escape from their destroyer. The 
flesh of wild fowls, on the contrary, is firm, hard, 
dark coloured and lean — proofs of strength and 
vigour. 

Generally speaking, the effect of active exer- 
cises on any part or any animal, is greater the 
more it is in motion. 

The person, however, who is constantly em- 
ployed in muscular exercises never acquires great 
strength. If continued exercises are also violent, 
what is gained does not make up for what is lost, 
and he wastes quickly. 

If, on the contrary, exercise and repose are 
alternate, it favours nutrition and the develop- 
ment of muscular power. 

The person, then, who acquires the greatest 
strength is he who practises muscular exercises 
which require great force, but who follows them 
up with sufficient intervals of repose. 

RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF FUNCTIONS THUS 
CONNECTED. 

To have an idea of the extensive effects of 
exercise on the rest of the organization, it is 
enough to observe that the locomotive muscles 
and their levers, the bones, form a mass much 

c 



14 PHY'SIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



larger and heavier than all the other organs, 
and that their actions also are by far the largest 
and most powerful. It is thence evident how vast 
must be the influence of the repeated and con- 
tinued action of such organs on the rest of the 
economy. 

When the body is in a state of repose, the in- 
terior functions are, indeed, in exercise i but, as 
the organs which execute them do not receive 
any impulse or excitement from without, their 
action is slow and feeble. Not only the muscles 
themselves lose their suppleness and energy, 
the whole organization is enfeebled; and, if the 
state of repose continue, the strongest man will 
ultimately become weak and indisposed. 

On the contrary, under the influence of exer- 
cise, the interior functions increase in activity 
and power. 

It has been observed that the cerebel or little 
brain, by means of the nerves acting upon the 
muscles, excites them to produce motion : it may 
now be added that the heart gives to the muscles a 
similar excitement, or rather the means of acting 
by pouring into them the blood ; because, if we 
were to intercept the blood which is sent to them 
by that organ, they would soon be unable to con- 
tract, and their active power would finally cease. 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



15 



Thus the nervous system and the system of the 
blood-vessels are evidently the two principal 
causes which determine the muscular contractions. 

As, however, every thing is united and depen- 
dant in the economy of animal life, the muscles 
cannot be put in action or be exercised without 
reacting on the brain by means of other nerves, 
and on the heart by means of the returning ves- 
sels or veins. Thus the heart and brain, being 
again more stimulated, return an additional sti- 
mulus to the muscles themselves, and to all the 
organs. 

In this way, the contractions of the muscles 
produce a general excitement, making all the or- 
gans partake of their activity. It is thus that 
every one must have observed, after active exer- 
cise, those effects, the very causes of which we 
are now explaining, namely, palpitation of the 
heart, high pulse, heat, redness of the skin, per- 
spiration, &c. 

NUTRITIVE FUNCTIONS THUS CONNECTED. 

If we now wish, for example's sake, to apply 
these simple physiological principles to explain 
the influence of exercise upon digestion, we can 
understand how the organs whose duty it is to 



16 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 

perform this vital function, increase, by exercise, 
in strength and power. If the stomach be empty, 
exercise accordingly creates or increases the ap- 
petite, and ensures a more speedy, easy, and per- 
fect, digestion. — It must, however, be observed, 
that violent exercise too long continued exhausts 
the common energy of all the organs, and, con- 
sequently, troubles and disorders the movements 
of the stomach, and thus injures digestion. 

As to the circulation, it has already been seen 
that exercise accelerates the palpitations of the 
heart and the action of the blood-vessels. — The 
same thing occurs with respiration, which becomes 
quick in proportion to the force and activity of 
our external motions. 

It is, however, in its effect upon the nourish- 
ment and material composition of the body, that 
it is most interesting, in relation to the present 
views, to notice the consequence of exercise. It 
is especially in contributing to this function that 
exercise spreads equally over the body, heat and 
vital energy, and maintains an equilibrium among 
all the functions. 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



17 



THINKING FUNCTIONS, THUS CONNECTED. 

Even the sensations receive from action new 
excitement. We know that, after long repose, 
the intellect becomes dull, and that, by the effect 
of exercise, not so great as to fatigue, perceptions 
of some kinds arise more freely, and the intellec- 
tual faculties are reanimated. 

Sleep, on the contrary, placing the brain in an 
inactive state, it follows that its too frequent repe- 
tition, and especially its excessive prolongation, 
must enervate that organ. Thus, too much sleep 
not only benumbs the brain, it also directly de- 
bilitates it. 

It appears, however, that active muscular exer- 
cises leave those particular organs of the brain 
which have reference to moral quahties and in- 
tellectual faculties in a state of repose. The 
action of the brain, during exercise, seems limited 
to those of its organs which direct the movements. 

EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE EXERCISE. 

The local effects of active exercises, or those 
that take place in the members in action, when 
these exercises are carried too far, are, as has 

c 2 



18 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES, 

been said, inflammation of the muscles, rheuma- 
tism, &c. 

The general effects of too great indulgence in 
muscular exercises, are the exhaustion of the 
cerebral and spinal nervous system, and propor- 
tionally of all the organs depending thereon. 

If exercise be indulged in too much, but not 
so constantly, it makes individuals appear pre- 
maturely old. 

This last is an important consideration to those 
for whom this work is written. The error they 
commit, however, is not likely to be of this, but 
the opposite kind, which is more surely and im- 
mediately fatal to health and beauty. 



19 



OF THE CONSTRAINT TO WHICH THE BODY 
IS WRONGLY SUBJECTED. 

The excessive, or too long continued, action of 
locomotive organs, is not so frequently injurious 
to them in women, as is the state of inactivity, 
arising from constraint, by which their structure 
is often wasted and their capability of action lost. 

CLEAR VIEWS OF CAMPER ON THE SUBJECT. 

It is important, says Camper, to keep the spine 
of the back straight, and it is desirable that the 
care of watchino; after this should be left to the 
wisdom of nature. But unluckily parents will not 
refer to nature, and prefer the use of whalebone 
stays. It is in consequence of this error (owing • 
to the debility and wrong positions it causes, as 
will presently be seen) that we see so many mis- 
shapen and deformed persons in Holland, England, 
and France. 

"The httle girl, in the attempt to render her 
thin and genteel, speedily becomes hump-backed. 
This strange abuse, however, exists chiefly in 
towns, and among persons in easy circumstances, 



20 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



to such an extent, that, out of one thousand 
females, scarcely ten have the back-bone straight. 
The consequence of this is a general enfeebling of 
the constitution, a contracted chest, diseases of 
the loins, and a difficulty of giving birth to off- 
spring, which is often fatal to the mother, owing 
to the contraction of the pelvis. The head and 
even the face frequently get a turn sideways; for 
the brain not being in a state of exact equilibrium, 
renders the skull misshapen, ^yhen the back- 
bone is much bent, the individual rarely reaches a 
certain age, but dies of dropsy. 

It is very rarely, and by accident, that men 
are not straight, and then they are generally 
humped behind, because in climbing up steep 
places they are more liable to falls. If boys, there- 
fore, are straight in figure without the aid of whale- 
bone stays, why should it not be the same with 
girls? And how happens it that the daughters of 
wealthy parents have generally this defect, except 
that their mothers have the cruelty to keep them 
in a state of torture in their clothes? 

''There is added to this another abuse: that 
girls may appear to have a long waist, their whale- 
bone stays are made longer than is suitable, and 
nothing certainly is more dangerous/* — by com- 
pressing the brim of the pelvis. 



CONSTRAINT OF THE BODY. 



21 



TEEBLER VIEWS OF LATER WRITERS. 

How ihugIi at variance with the doctrines of 
this great anatomist are those of Mr. Shaw, when 
he tells us that If a girl is naturally strong, and 
is permitted to have enough of active exercise, she 
may counteract the ill effects of long continuance 
in a bad position ; but if she be weakly, and have 
not proper exercise, the lower part of the spine 
must yield to the weight of the upper part of the 
body;" and that '^taking this view of the causes 
of distortion, I would concur in part with the 
opinion of those who believe that stays are useful : 
however, they should be worn only by weakly 
children, to prevent the spine from sinking while 
they are obliged to sit up; for stays will never 
cure a distortion, nor give strength to the muscles. 
We have only to observe the fine figures of the 
peasant girls, to be convinced that stays are not 
absolutely necessary ; but if children are brought 
up artificially, they must have some artificial 
support." 

Dr. Duffin similarly errs in thinking that a 
moderate and equable degree of compression, given 
to muscles much called into exercise, so that it 



22 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



does not unduly interfere with their power of 
contraction, is undoubtedly beneficial.'' 

There is, I will venture to assert, no compres- 
sion of muscles" that does not interfere with 
their power of contraction,'' or that is not inju- 
rious exactly in proportion to its ^'degree;" and 
the more muscles are called into action," the 
more injurious must such " compression" always 
be! — This mistake arises from the utility, real or 
supposed, of belts around the loins; but such 
utility, if it exists, depends on their supporting 
the internal abdominal organs, not on their 
" compression of muscles." 

To the constraint of dress, is added the absence, 
I may almost say the impossibility, of exercise. 
The only exercises, indeed, to which, in their 
hours of relaxation, young ladies have access, are 
in general only a few insignificant games, or 
amusements extremely limited. 



23 



OF THE DEBILITY WHICH IS CAUSED BY 
CONSTRAINT. 

A weakening of the function of any organ always 
results from want of use: the member having been 
for some time in a state of repose, has no longer 
similar power. 

The proofs of this are innumerable; being 
afforded by all the acts of our lives in which 
habit is more or less irregular. We feel that 
they are less perfectly repeated after intervals of 
cessation. 

If this repose endure for a long time, move- 
ment of the limb becomes almost impossible. 

ANATOMICO-PATHOLOGICAL FACT, AND ITS CAUSES. 

On this subject, Mr. Shaw, following Messrs. 
Travers and Brodie, observes that '^it may be 
stated as a law of the animal economy, that the 
exercise of an organ is necessary not only to its 
perfection, but even to its preservation. This is 
often exemplified by the state of parts which are 
not kept in due activity; for if they are not exer- 



24 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



cised, they degenerate, so as even to lose their 
peculiar characters, and gradually to become 
similar in structure to the common cellular mem- 
brane. 

" As long as a joint is kept in activity, the 
apparatus continues perfect; but when the motion 
of the joint has ceased for some time, all its com- 
plex parts degenerate; their peculiar characters 
and structure disappear; they fall into the same 
condition, and assume the same appearance, with 
the cellular membrane. 

" The converse of the above proposition holds — 
that new organs, different in appearance and in 
function, may be formed of cellular membrane. 
If a bone be dislocated, and its head he imbedded 
in the cellular membrane, cartilages, capsules, 
bursse, sheaths, ligaments, all may be formed from 
it; and if these parts, constituting a new joint, be 
kept in activity, although they may not have the 
regularity of the apparatus of the original joint, 
they assume all the characters of the several parts. 

The effects produced upon the muscular frame, 
when there has been long confinement to bed, or 
when, for the purpose of deceit, the limbs have 
been bandaged so as to prevent the muscles from 
acting, are well known. But there are other 
sources of the diminution of the muscular power. 



DEBILITY, CAUSED BY CONSTRAINT. 25 



which are still more important to observe; as, for 
example, the confinement of young persons who 
are slightly distorted, for months together, to one 
position, or the encasing them in machines, which 
not only preclude the necessity of any muscular 
exertion, but, by pressure on particular parts, 
cause the muscular substance to waste." 

Of the eftect produced upon the osseous system 
by want of exercise, he observes that ''there are 
several instances of dislocated joints, where the 
margins of the old socket have wasted, and the 
cavity has been filled up by a spongy cellular 
structure. . . In one instance, the head of the thigh- 
bone has completely lost its round appearance, 
and is not one-third part of what may reasonably 
be considered to have been its original size. . .The 
head of the humerus, that had been dislocated, 
and driven between the ribs, was found, upon dis- 
section, to be wasted, soft" and spongy. 

This law is not confined in its operation to 
the muscular and osseous system, but extends to 
every part of the body."* 

The reason why continued repose of a member 

* In giving these illustrations, Mr. Shaw refers to the 
book published by Mr. Travers, in 1812, on the Injuries of 
the Intestines 5 and to a late paper by Mr. Brodie, on the 
Ligature of the Biliary Duct. 

D 



26 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRIXCIPLES. 



decreases nutrition in it, and subjects it to waste, 
evidently is that the irritability caused by move- 
ment not taking place, the flow of the blood 
which it caused ceases also. 

It would appear also that, with the enfeebling 
of the muscles and the diminution of the caliber 
of their vessels, occurs a defect in the exhalation 
of the membranes of the joints or articulations. 

OF CONSTRAINT AMOUNTING TO PRESSURE. 

When to this is added that pressure which 
produces absorption and waste of the supporting 
muscles, the organic injury is at its height — the 
means of adequate support are gone. 

A medical friend mentions to me an instance, 
which he himself w^itnessed, of several of the 
muscles of the neck being partially divided by 
the long continued use of a tight necklace. 

I have seen also, at Mr. Parris's, a cast fi^om a 
lady's arm, in which the great muscle of the 
shoulder, the deltoid, has evidently had its super- 
ficial fibres cut through by the pressure of the 
shoulder-straps of stays. 

''That such," says Mr. Shaw, ''may be the 
effect of pressure, is often seen in the wasted leg 
of the mendicant, which, through tight bandaging 



DEBILITY, CAUSED BY CONSTRAINT. 27 

alone, can be reduced to that condition which 
excites our commiseration.'' 

But a simple experiment, which occurred to me 
on this subject, and which the most vigorous or 
active may at any time perform, will satisfy all 
who try it that the constraint and pressure of 
muscles is fatal to their action. If a leathern strap 
is buckled very tightly round the loins, and the 
experimenter then lean to one side, he will be 
unable to regain the vertical position without great 
difficulty. 

Physiologists agree that the constraint and 
pressure produced by stays enfeeble the muscles 
of the spinal column. 

Portal states that the muscles of the back are 
larger and stronger in women who have not 
worn stays, than in others; that it is scarcely 
possible to demonstrate these muscles in those 
who have worn stays ; and that these muscles 
have been so weakened by pressure and want of 
use, that (when the stays are removed), they are 
incapable of supporting the body.* 

* II est tres important d'observer que les persouues qui 
n'ont fait aucun usage des corps ont les muscles du dos 
plus forts et plus volumineux que les autres. Onpeut meme 
dire qu'on a peine a demontrer les muscles du dos dans les 



28 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



Van Swieten says that those \vretched women 
who have been long accustomed to wear these 
coats of mail (loricse) can never lay them aside, 
lest the chest should fall forwards, in consequence 
of the weakness of the dorsal muscles, which, 
when in health, and properly exercised, are ca- 
pable of supporting the spinal column erect and 
firm, even under heavy burdens. I could not," 
he says, view but with pity those miserable 
women who not even during sleep dared to take 
off their stays, who frequently could not turn 
themselves in bed, much less raise themselves up 
w^hen in bed, or maintain the body in an erect 
position."* 

femmes qui se sont distinguees a porter des corps etroits. . . 
Les muscles du dos, a force d'avoir ete comprimes et d'etre 
restes dans Piuaction sont devenus iucapables de maintenir 
le tronc en equilibre." 

* Unde miseraB mulieres, quas a prima juventute his 
loricis usae fuerunt, illas postea deponere nequeunt, quin 
antrorsum collabatur totus truncus corporis, musculis dorsi 
inertibus redditis, qui, in valido et exercitato corpore, spi- 
nam dorsi erectam et fermam tenere possunt, licet grave 
pondus humeris imponatur, uti in bajulis videmus. Vidi 
non sine commiseratione miseras tales feminas, quaB ne 
quidem somni tempore deponere audebant loricas expertas, 
jam saepius quod vix se vertere in lecto possunt, multo 
minus corpus in lecto erigere vel erectum sustinere." 



DEBILITY, CAUSED BY CONSTRAINT. 29 

The author of a work entitled " A Comparative 
View of the State and Faculties of Man with those 
of the Animal World,'' says, "Some nations have 
fancied that nature did not give a good shape to 
the head, and thought it would be better to mould 
it into the form of a sugar-loaf. The Chinese 
think a woman's foot much handsomer if squeezed 
into a third part of its natural size. Some 
African nations have a like quarrel with the 
shape of the nose, which they think ought to be 
laid as flat as possible with the face. We laugh 
at the folly, and are shocked with the cruelty of 
these barbarians, but think it a very clear case 
that the natural shape of a woman's chest is not 
so elegant as we can make it, by the confinement 
of stays. The common effect of this practice is 
obstructions in the lungs, from their not having 
sufficient room to play, which, besides tainting 
the breath, cuts off numbers of young women in 
the very bloom of life. But Nature has shown 
her resentment of this practice in a very striking 
manner, by rendering above half the women of 
fashion deformed, in some degree or other. De- 
formity is peculiar to the civilized part of mankind, 
and is almost always the work of our own hands. 
The superior strength, just proportion, and agility 
of savages, are entirely the effects of their hardy 

D 2 



30 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



education, of their living mostly in the open air, 
and of their limbs never having suffered any 
confinement." 

UNWISE CONDUCT IN THIS RESPECT. 

Unhappily, the means almost always employed 
to compensate for this persevering destruction of 
natural power, is increased use of its causes! 

On this subject, however, the voice of science 
will ultimately be heard. Nature," says Camper, 
"should be allowed to ^ct freely, in order to 
strengthen the child. We should carefully avoid 
compressing the shoulders by bandages, even of 
w^ool or baize, or putting any support in front of 
the throat: everything employed in this case as 
a remedy only increases the evil. I am speaking 
here of bodies that are bent to one side (scohoses), 
not of those that are hump-backed (cyphoses). 
The first may be remedied by external means, 
but for the latter there is no remedy. If you 
doubt what I say, ask those parents who have 
spared no pains to make their daughters' shapes 
straight, and they will tell you that they have 
uselessly employed suspenders, collars, steel 
plates, and steel corsets. Then look at the 
daughters themselves, and their monstrous con= 



DEBILITY, CAUSED BY CONSTRAINT. 



31 



formation will convince you of the truth of what 
I have advanced!!!" 

The publication of the first edition of this work 
seems, fortunately, to have roused both public 
and professional attention. One work, in parti- 
cular, approving unqualifiedly of the exercises 
described in that edition, has made its appear- 
ance — I mean that of Mr. Coulson, ''On De- 
formities of the Chest." Adopting the same 
principles, Mr. Coulson applies them to the 
treatment of the particular deformities of that 
important portion of the body. It must be evi- 
dent to every reader, that I can conscientiously, 
and must zealously, recommend the perusal of 
that work to every one interested in the medical 
treatment of these deformities. 



32 



OF THE WRONG POSITIONS WHICH RESULT 
FROM DEBILITY, AND FROM THE EMPLOY- 
MENT, IN THE PARTICULAR PURSUITS OF 
EDUCATION, OR THE COMMON ACTS OF 
LIFE, OF MUSCLES UNFAVOURABLY SITU- 
ATED. 

Mr. Shaw says ''The most probable source of 
many distortions is either in the cessation of the 
actions of some particular part, or in the undue 
and partial exercise of others.'' It would have 
been more correct to say that both these causes 
operate. 

The use of stays and other restraints, as well as 
sedentary habits, causing, in the manner just 
described, debihty of many of the muscles, na- 
turally induces the use, in the particular pursuits 
of education or the common acts of life, of other 
muscles, of which the power is less impaired, but 
which are less favorably situated for the purpose 
in view. 

This is the great cause of wrong positions of 
the figure, and all their fatal consequences. 

The following are a few of the most remarkable 
of the wrong positions resulting from debility or 
from the improper employment of the muscles in 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 33 



such cases. All of them have been more or less 
noticed by writers on deformity, except perhaps 
that connected with the guitar and the corrective 
means it may afford, the pecuhar effects of riding 
on horseback, and the general truth as to one- 
sidedness to which most of them tend. 

IN STANDING. 

Young people compelled to stand during a long 
lesson relieve the muscles that maintain the body 
erect, by balancing themselves on one leg, which 
is generally the left, in order that the more active 
right may be free. This throws out the hip, 
hollows the body, and depresses the shoulder of 
the side on which they stand. If this be the left, 
it raises the right shoulder, or removes it farther from 
the spine, and consequently makes it appear larger. 

As a natural consequence of this position, 
says Mr. Shaw, there is a slight curve of the 
whole spine; and, although it be especially ob- 
servable in the part between the shoulders form- 
ing a convexity towards the right side, still, on 
examining the lumbar portion of the column, 
we shall generally find a corresponding con- 
vexity towards the left.'' 



34 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



This is perfectly true; and it shows how de- 
formity originates; but as Mr. Shaio observes 
that the curve is especially observable in the 
part between the shoulders forming a convexity 
towards the right side, and that the convexity in 
the lumbar portion of the column toward the 
left side is but generally found and less espe- 
cially observable, it is in direct and most decisive 
contradiction to his hypothesis, subsequently 
mentioned, that this deformity commences in 
the lumbar portion of the spine''!!! 

During the same act, they also relieve them- 
selves by passing one hand round the back, so 
as to support it, and they thereby draw" down 
the opposite elbow, and consequently the oppo- 
site shoulder. 

SITTING. 

By sittmg always on the same side of the fire 
or window, persons lean to one side, and thereby 
depress the shoulder of that side, and raise the 
opposite one. 

Girls, in sitting, contract a habit of balancing 
the body upon one hip, and of throwing on it the 
weight of all the parts above it, by drawing the 



WRONG POSITIONS 1-ROM DEBILITY. 35 

spine to that side, and leaning the head and neck 
to the other. This raises relatively the shoulder 
of the side on which they rest, as is seen when 
they stand erect and carefully retain the same 
position of the trunk. 

A deviation from this circumstance (of the 
shoulder of the side on which they rest being- 
raised in sitting) takes place in occupations 
which engage the right hand and arm. Though 
the body rests on the left hip and is still hollowed 
on the right side, the right shoulder is greatly 
raised, in order to facilitate its motion. 

IN WRETING. 

This takes place in writing, and is illustrated 
in Plate I. Being a frequent act, which the 
right arm alone can perform, and in which the 
right shoulder is always raised, it is one of the 
most injurious, and tends greatly to throw the 
lateral deviation toward the right shoulder. 

Indeed, as Mr. Shaw observes, '^sitting awry 
throws the ribs and shoulders nearly into the same 
position as when the spine is actually distorted." 

Here also Mr. Shaw might have seen that the 
first and chief curve is formed at the right shoulder, 
for the purpose of setting it free to act, and, con- 



36 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



sequently, tliat it is there, and not in the lumbar 
portion of the column, that deformity begins. 

To remedy this tendency, it has been recom- 
mended to equalize the shoulders, by placing a 
book under the left elbow. If, however, the 
general position were not corrected, no means 
would avail. 

IN DRAWING. 

In drawing, as in writing, both sexes are apt 
to acquire the habit of sitting, with an inclina- 
tion of the body to the left side, the left arm 
resting on the elbow or hanging by the side, and 
sometimes with the palette in the left hand, 
whilst the right arm and shoulder are raised, 
for the purpose of directing the pencil, the head 
being leant to the left shoulder. — {See Plate II.) 
This also tends greatly to throw the lateral devia- 
tion toward the right shoulder. 

The able artist, Mr. Frank Howard, who has 
favoured me by making the Drawings for this 
work, and whose creative mind and ready hand 
have in these, as in many other matters, no rival 
with which I am acquainted, obliges me also by 
the following valuable observations on the false 
position in drawing. 

On the position in drawing, I would only 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 37 

add to your description of the improper one, 
that there is a tendency to throw all the weight 
on the left elbow, for the purpose of having 
greater liberty with the right arm; and that the 
evil of this is increased by the height of the desk 
or table on which the drawing is placed. A habit 
is thus contracted of leaning over the drawing, 
and resting the chest against the edge of the 
table, which is productive of contraction, of 
vital derangements, and at the same time of a 
cramped manner of drawing, sufficiently objec- 
tionable in itself. 

The proper position, when sitting, is to have 
the drawing considerably lower than the waist, 
and to sit erect, without throwing any weight on 
the left hip, elbow, or hand. The drawing can 
be seen better, the whole of it being visible at 
one glance; and much greater freedom in the 
style must result from the removal of the real 
constraint of the right arm. 

In fact, the object for which so much is 
sacrificed in the false position, is gained in the 
true one, without any sacrifice at all. It is 
admitted that, in the false position, there is not 
so much liberty for the hand to disobey the eye — 
it cannot go so far or so fast in an erroneous 
direction; but this mode of controlling the hand 

E 



38 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



is quite a delusion, as, in the true position, it will 
have much greater scope to obey the mind, 
which, after all, is the only true source whence 
capability of drawing is derived. 

*'The advantages, therefore, of commencing 
drawing in the true position are twofold : first, 
with regard to the attainment of the art; and, 
secondly, with regard to the preservation of 
health and of beauty of figure." 

IN GUITAR-PLAYING. 

In playing on the guitar, in some instances, 
the right knee is elevated to support the instru- 
ment, and the right shoulder is slightly raised. — 
{See Plate III.) This practice, therefore, tends 
further to throw the lateral deviation toward the 
right shoulder. 

More frequently, perhaps, the guitar is rested 
in the lap, the left foot is placed on a stool, and 
the left shoulder is raised. This of course tends 
to throw the deviation in that direction. 

The present is the proper place to observe 
that, for a lady who also plays on the harp, oris 
engaged much in any other pursuit which tends 
to raise the right shoulder, the last mode of 
playing on the guitar, which raises the left 



i 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 



39 



shoulder, is preferable, as counteracting the 
opposite tendency of the other pursuit. 

On this observation as to these two instru- 
ments, may be founded a general rule as to 
finding similar compensations in all. 

Unfortunately, however, these pursuits are in 
general solitary ; and their peculiar tendency to 
the right or to the left, is unchecked by any 
other countervailing circumstance. Nay, when 
one is a principal and predominating occupation, 
there always exists a strong tendency to assume 
the same attitude and position in every other 
action of life. Hence, an insensibly growing, 
and at last irremediable, deformity. 

Mr. Schulz, of 42, Charlotte Street, Portland 
Place, a distinguished teacher of the guitar, and, 
unlike teachers in general, profoundly skilled in 
the science and theory of music, and in the mode 
of addressing its doctrines to the capacities of 
pupils, so as to add solid knowledge to brilliant 
acquirements, has favoured me with an account 
of his mode of holding the guitar, by which hap- 
pily both of the wrong positions described above 
are completely avoided. Mr. Schulz says 

I ensure the perfect equality of the shoulders, 
by suspending the guitar , by a ribbon, from the neck. 

I avoid a different elevation even of the 
two hands, by placing the instrument so sus- 



40 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



pended on one horizontal level, — not merely 
because the common elevation of the neck of 
the instrument and of the left hand when applied 
to it, may derange the natural position of the 
shoulders and add to the causes of deformity 
you have so clearly described, but because that 
position fatigues the arm, and deprives the pupil 
of that perfect command over the finger-board 
which the horizontal level affords. 

" I carry the body of the instrument, thus 
horizontally suspended, considerably under the 
right arm, in order to avoid all such pressure 
on the breast as may affect either digestion, 
circulation, or respiration — a consideration of 
vast importance, especially when the pupil uses 
the guitar to accompany the voice in singing. 

With the instrument thus held in the most 
natural, easy, safe and unobjectionable posi- 
tion, the pupil may either rest on a chair, 
having the seat of the common dimensions, to 
ensure freedom and ease in sitting, and may 
plant both feet equably upon the ground ; — or 
she may stand while playing, which is favourable 
to an erect and easy carriage ; — or, at perfect 
freedom, she may walk through the apartment. 

" Thus every thing, in this mode of playing 
on the guitar, is calculated to exempt that 
instrument from even the slightest reproach of 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 



41 



causing an unequal position of the shoulders, 
or in any way contributing to cause the too 
prevalent deformity/' 

The sketch of the right position conforms to 
the method of Sor, and was made before beino^ 
favoured with Mr. Schulz's. 

IN HARP-PLAYING. 

In playing on the harp, the right shoulder is 
at once raised and thrown back, because the 
treble strings, which engage the right hand, are 
placed higher and further back ; while the base 
strings, which engage the left hand, are placed 
lower and further forward. — {See Plate IV.) 
Here, 'then, occurs a twist of the body, which 
cannot fail of being detrimental to those who 
have not attained their full growth, as well as an 
elevation of the right shoulder, still further increas- 
ing the tendency to deviation in that direction. 

By Mr. Bochsa, the author of incomparably 
the best introductory works on the harp,* and 

• When practically engaged in studying tbe harp, I 
carefully examined every English work on the subject, 
and 1 found Mr. Bochsa's course of instruction, published 
by Goulding and Co. vastly superior to every other in com- 
pleteness, method, simplicity and ease of acquirement. 

E 2 



42 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



of many others of higher description, the most 
distinguished harp performer of the present day, 
and the creator of an entirely new era in the use 
of that classical and splendid instrument, I am 
favoured with the following account of the pro- 
per mode of sitting : — 

" In performing on the harp, no elevation of 
one shoulder nor twist of the body can arise, 
unless an improper seat is used, or the weight of 
the instrument is WTongly thrown on the right 
shoulder, or, from extreme carelessness, a false 
position is acquired. 

^' To obtain command over the instrument, 
the pupil, especially if a beginner, should sit on 
a rather low chair with a long back, called a 
school chair. 

^' To remove all sort of constraint* arising 
from any pressure by the body of the harp on 
the right shoulder, that should be entirely avoided 
by using my spring of support, by which the 
instrument is held in any degree of inclination, 
and is brought into the very slightest and gen- 
tlest contact with the shoulder. 

*^ To render all inequality of the shoulders 
and twisting ox the body as unnecessary as they 
are awkward and ungraceful, the width of the 
instrument should be such that the extended 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 43 



arms can easily command every string — in other 
words, the instrument should be of the usual 
size for adults ; and ladies of imperfect growth 
should either use a smaller one, or should not 
yet attempt it. 

Thus every cause of improper position is 
removed ; the shoulders are kept square in every 
direction ; and, supposing- a voluntary attention 
to correct position to be maintained, not even 
the slightest cause of deformity can arise from 
the use of that instrument, one of whose high 
commendations, indeed, is the beautiful attitude 
of the whole figure and the unrivalled positions 
of the arms and hands, of which it admits."* 

IN RIDING. 

In riding on horseback, the body is somewhat 
similarly twisted, and the right shoulder is apt 
to be thrown upward {See Plate V.), increasing 
apparently the tendency to deviation in that 
direction. 

This tendency, however, will in general be 
only apparent ; for, while the right shoulder is 

• It is not unimportant to the public to know that the 
harps which Mr. Bochsa prefers, are those of Mr. Delveau, 
No. 5, King Street, Golden Square. 



44 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



thrown upward, the right haunch is often still 
more thrown upward, and the whole of the right 
side is shortened ; so that, were the lady to be 
placed on her feet, extending only her limbs, and 
holding her body in the same position as on 
horseback, with the right side contracted, the 
right shoulder would in reality be depressed, 
and the tendency to deviation would be to the 
left side. 

Thus, riding on horseback might also perhaps 
be employed as counteracting the far more ge- 
neral tendency to raise the right shoulder, which 
is produced by the more frequent and longer 
continued acts of writing, drawing, &c., and by 
the perpetual employment of the right hand in 
all the acts of common life, which compel the 
greater or less liberation of the shoulder from the 
corset or stays, its increased developement, and 
the almost universal tendency to right-sided 
deviation and deformity. 

I feel, however, the greatest objection to riding 
on horseback as an exercise for ladies, on other 
accounts ; namely, the twist which it gives to the 
whole body ; the elevation which it produces of 
one of the shoulders; the immense increase 
which it causes in the waist by incessantly em- 
ploying and developing the large muscles of the 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY 45 

sides, in order to secure the rider's balance (and 
this too in a nation where slender-waistedness is 
beauty !); the enfeeblement and deformity which 
it causes in the thighs, legs, and feet the 
coarseness of voice, which is always caused by 
conversing in a loud tone with 'a riding com- 
panion ; the increased exposure to weather, 
which is so unfavourable to the complexion ; 
the early improper irritation and subsequent de- 
bility which it produces ;t the unnatural consoli- 
dation of the bones of the lower part of the body, 
ensuring a dangerous and frightful impediment to 
future functions, which need not here be dwelt 
on ; — in short, its altogether masculine and 
unwomanly character. 

Ladies may, if they please, doubt the declaration 
of a physician of eminence, that " equitation is 
more beneficial to the horse than to his rider/' 
But it is at their peril, if they disregard the facts 
now stated. 

* See tbe regiments of Guards, in which I never could 
discover an old trooper who had two legs alike ! 

+ The historv of the Cossac women, who are much on 
horseback, illustrates this. 



46 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



IN LYING IN BED. 

In sleeping on a feather-bed, with high pillows, 
the body is not only enervated, but, as we gene- 
rally lie on the right side, the right shoulder is 
again raised, and the tendency to deviation in 
that direction still further increased. 

The spine is also twisted, and the neck turned 
awry. — {See Plate VI.) 

When two children sleep in one bed, they 
seldom fail, unless they change sides, to contract 
a habit of lying always on the same side of the 
body; and when this is practised every night 
during several years, it can scarcely fail to pro- 
duce deformity. 

The spine and ribs, and more particularly the 
shoulders, says Mr. Shaw, " are brought exactly 
into the same condition by lying on the side and 
with a high pillow, as that in which they are, when 
distortion of the spine has actually taken place." 

This also should have shown Mr. Shaw that 
the first and chief curve is formed at the right 
shoulder, and consequently that it is there that 
deformity begins. 

In bed, it is better to lie on the back than on 
one side, when, if there be no disease, and if food 
and exercise have been duly regulated, there will 



i 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 47 

be no difficulty of breathing, nor any other 
unpleasant consequences. 

Other effects of lying on the side or back seem 
hitherto to have passed unnoticed ; namely, that 
lying on the side turns one knee excessively in- 
ward ; whereas, in lying on the back, both knees 
are turned outward. 

IN ALL THE ACTS OF COMMON LIFE. 

In these universally, we use the right arm and 
right side more than the left. 

THE GREAT CAUSE OF DEFORMITY THUS REN- 
DERED EVIDENT. 

Thus, as the most frequent curvature of the 
spine is lateral, its causes are also lateral. 
• The tendency of the greater number of the 
acts I have described, and especially of the fre- 
quent and long-continued act of writing, the 
similarly continued act of drawing, and the long 
enduring state of sleep, is added to that of all the 
acts of common life, in producing deviation and 
deformity, primarily and fundamentally, toward 
the right shoulder; and it is for these reasons 
that deviations to that side so greatly exceed 
those in the opposite direction. 



48 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



I find, says Mr. Shaw (blindly still as to the 
important conclusion it affords), that the pro- 
portion of cases, where the convexity of the cur- 
vature between the shoulders is towards the left 
side, is not more than one in eight to those 
where it is in the opposite direction !" 

Those are egregiously mistaken who imagine 
that the causa of lateral curvature is ever per- 
pendicular in its operation, — they fail to observe 
that, when lateral curvature arises, even from 
some fault in a foot, it is solely because its in- 
fluence is laterally applied, through the oblique 
neck of the thigh-bone, that it can have the 
slightest effect on the spinal column. — This, 
however, is rare compared with the lateral influ- 
ence arising from the excessive employment of 
the right shoulder, as the preceding observations 
so fully demonstrate. 

Considered, then, both in its relation to sur- 
gery and to my present subject — exercise, this is 
a simple, clear and important principle, now I 
believe, for the first time, enunciated — that the 

ONE-SIDEDNESS, WITH WHICH ALMOST ALL THE 
ACTS OF LIFE ARE PERFORMED, IS THE GENERAL 
CAUSE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST UNIVERSAL 
DEFORMITY, AND THAT ITS PREVENTION RE- 
QUIRES AN EQUAL AND SIMILAR USE OF THE 
OTHER SIDE. 



49 



OF THE DEFORMITY IN WHICH WRONG POSI- 
TIONS TERMINATE. 

THE INJURY THUS PONE TO THE LOCOMOTIVE 
ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS, OR THOSE ON 
WHICH GENERAL MOTION DEPENDS. 

It has been already shown that the interver- 
tebral substance permits extensive motion of the 
spinal column ; and that w^hen the spine is no 
longer bent to any particular side, it returns to 
the erect position, by the elastic resilience of this 
substance, aided by suitable muscles. 

Now, even in a healthy man, unequal action 
of the masses of muscle, situated laterally and 
posteriorly to the spinal column, — if such action 
be frequent, excessive, or protracted, — may evi- 
dently impart an unsymmetrical form to the car- 
tilages and bones which they powerfully influence; 
and if so, the unequal action of these organs 
must very easily induce deformity in the delicate 
woman who is subject to perpetual constraint, 
who is consequently enfeebled, and to whom 
wrong position has become habitual ! 

F 



50 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



The moment, says Camper, " that the verte- 
bral column leans to the same side, either from 
bad attitude or from the corset being too tight, 
this elastic substance is brusied ; so that the car- 
tilaginous masses of the superior vertebrse are 
compressed, and adhere, directly the cartilaginous 
layer placed between the vertebrse is destroyed, 
to the inferior or following of the vertebrse : 
nutrition then ceases, the vertebrae assume a 
triangular shape, and the back-bone is bent in 
the manner represented by Cheselden/' 

Such deformity will be most easily produced 
in early life, when even the osseous portions of 
the spinal column are more or less cartilaginous, 
when debilitating causes retard ossification, and 
when all habits of one-sided action act with 
greatest power. 

But, at any period, the muscles which should 
support the vertebrae, may become so enfeebled 
by want of exercise as to be incapable of their 
functions, or so perverted in action as only to 
perform them ill. 

This deformity is seldom observed before the 
seventh or eighth year of age ; and is more fre- 
quent in early life. 

When the spine of a girl about the age of 
twelve or thirteen, says Mr. Shaw, is becoming 



DEF0IO31TY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 51 

crooked, the attention of the mother or governess 
is at first attracted by the state of the shoulders 
or breasts : at this age, indeed, most frequently 
by the latter ; one breast either appearing larger 
than the other, or growing so unequally as to 
lead to a suspicion that it is diseased, or that 
* one of the breast-bones is growing out of its 
place.' But in a younger girl, the shoulders at- 
tract attention first, as the right appears enlarged, 
and when the shoulder-blades are compared, the 
right is generally found farther removed from the 
spine than the left, and with its inferior angle 
lying flat upon the ribs, while that of the left 
projects. 

On a more careful examination/' says Dr. 
Duffin, it is found that the central groove of 
the back deviates from a straight line ; that there 
is a greater distance between a given point of the 
original perpendicular spinal' line and the top of 
the elevated shoulder bone, than between the 
same point and the corresponding top of the 
opposite side. The right breast presents a more 
than ordinary fulness ; and the corresponding 
collar-bone displays a proportionate elevation. 

" In proportion as the inclination takes place 
in the upper part of the back, between the 
shoulders, nature, in order to counterbalance the 



52 



FIIYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



evil, and preserve the equilibrium of the body, 
calls into action the muscles of the lower part of 
the spine on the opposite side ; so that, in con- 
firmed cases, a double curvature is produced." 
And it is in consequence of this, as Mr. Shaw 
observes, " that a mother describes the state of 
her child, when the spine is slightly distorted, as 
* a growing out of the right shoulder, and of the 
left hip.' 

As \he infirmity advances, a similar coun- 
terpoising power is exerted by the muscles of 
the spine attached to the vertebrse of the neck, 
and a third or upper curve is then formed, so 
that the spine presents a serpentine appearance, 
inclining to each side alternately and perhaps, 
as Mr. Shaw observes, " with a slight bend out- 
wards, which will be most observable in the loins, 
and especially when she is sitting." 

The ribs, in consequence of the alteration in 
the form of the spine, make a hump on the side 
opposite to the compression of the back-bone, 
and a hollow on the side towards which the ver- 
tebrse incline ; the hump and the projection of 
the shoulder being caused by those ribs which 
rise from the convexity of the spine ; while the 
ribs attached to the concavity are depressed and 
permit the other shoulder to fall downward. 



DEFORMITY FROM ^VRONG POSITIONS. 53 



When the lowest curve is completed at the 
pelvis, the prominence of the hip on the side 
opposite to the prominent shoulder, becomes very 
conspicuous, and the spine, when viewed from 
behind, presents a serpentine appearance. — (See 
Plate VII., where this is contrasted with the 
natural and beautiful form.) 

The whole of the right side, says Mr. Shaw, 
will be of a rounded and barrel-like form, while 
the left is diminished and contracted, the ribs 
being closer together than is natural. There 
will also be a depression or sinking in of the 
right, and a fulness between the ribs and hip of 
the left side, so that the whole space between the 
left hip and armpit is nearly in the same line, and 
considerably shorter than the space between the 
same points on the right side. If the girl hold 
both arms above her head, the difference in the 
shape of the two sides will become distinctly 
marked ; and when the arms" are brought down 
close to the sides, we may see between the left 
side and arm, but not between the con-esponding 
parts on the right. 

Although habitually balancing the body on 
the left leg is one of the principal causes of slight 
distortion of the spine, and especially of the appa- 
rent enlargement of the right shoulder, we shall 

r 2 



54 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 

generally find, that when the distortion is in- 
creased so far as to have the appearance of the 
italic S, the patient no longer stands on the left, 
but on the right foot. 

When a girl so affected is in certain posi- 
tions, one leg appears shorter than the other;* 
and when she walks, there is not only a con- 
strained position of the head and neck, and an 
inclination to one side, but there is also an in- 
equality in the step, so that the body is carried 
obliquely forwards, or with one side rather more 
advanced than the other. 

" The above description will be found to cor- 
respond with the condition of the spine and ribs 
when the distortion is very slight ; but a little 
increase in the curvature of the spine produces a 
considerable change in the general appearance. 
The effect is most remarkable in the alteration of 
the position of the right scapula ; for this bone, 
instead of being farther removed by the increase 
of the curve, is brought nearer to the spine ; and 
hence, although the right shoulder be higher than 
the left, it is not now so broad. But there is 
considerable variety in the state of the shoulders, 
even in cases of slight distortion. 

* " The sliortening of the leg is only apparent, and de- 
pends on the curve at the loins altering the position of the 
pelvis." 



DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 55 



The longer the deformity exists, says Dr. 
Duffin, " unless the causes whence it proceeds be 
discontinued, the more conspicuous it is sure to 
become. 

Pingeus, who flourished towards the close of 
the sixteenth century, asserts (so common was 
it at that period) ' that of fifty females of the 
higher or more civilized ranks of society, scarcely 
two could be found who had not the right 
shoulder higher, and more projecting than the 
left,' — an assertion which, but slightly modified, 
may, with considerable truth, be applied to 
young women of a corresponding class in modern 
times." The Doctor might, I believe, with 
truth, have said that, in later times and in the 
great capitals, Pinaeus' estimate would be under, 
rather than over the truth. The reader has 
already seen, that Camper makes the exceptions 
only one in a hundred. 

" During childhood, backboards, steel stays, 
constrained positions of the body, concealed 
pressure and similar expedients, are resorted to 
with a view to force in, or bind down, the high 
and projecting shoulder, erroneously supposed 
to be alone in fault. This treatment, it need 
hardly be observed, is almost invariably pro- 
ductive of an dggravalion of the mischief it is 



56 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



designed to remedy, as well as injurious to the 
form of the chest. 

" If the shoulders be braced by means of 
straps to a plate of iron placed on the back, it 
is evident that the action of the muscles, with 
which nature has endowed the body for the 
express purpose of holding the shoulders in a 
graceful position, will be superseded, and will, 
from want of due use, become proportionately 
incapable of performing their wonted office when 
the strap is removed. 

Artifices of dress being now substituted for 
mechanical contrivances, the manipulations of 
the waiting-maid supply the place of well- 
directed medical and surgical skill; or, in more 
pointed cases, the machinist is resorted to, who 
not unfrequently increases the deformity he 
undertakes to cure. 

" Machines of every description, for the pre- 
vention of deformity, or for the cure of bad 
habits, should be avoided : they are at best very 
inefficient substitutes for the means provided by 
nature. In young persons, in whom we may 
wish to correct round shoulders, or a habit of 
stooping, we can obtain our object, and at the 
same time improve the general health and 
strength, more by the superintendence of exercises 



DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 57 



and amusements, so as to make a moderate 
demand for muscular exertion on particular parts 
of the body, than by the use of back-boards, 
collars, or any kind of mechanical contrivance/' 
On this point, I have only to add that Riolan, 
chief physician to Mary de Medici, observed 
that most of the women of his time had the right 
shoulder larger than the left; and that Winslow 
first showed that, by the pressure of stays, the 
lower ribs also were depressed, and their cartila- 
ginous portions unnaturally bent. 

THE INJURY THUS DONE TO THE VITAL 
ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS, OR THOSE ON 
WHICH LIFE DEPENDS. 

It is well known that the constraints of dress 
impede the functions of the digestive organs, and 
lay the foundation ofmany diseases. I aminduced 
to believe, says Dr. Paris, " that the general 
discontinuance of those manly exercises, which 
were so commonly resorted to by our ancestors 
in the metropolis, has contributed to multiply 
our catalogue of dyspeptic diseases.'' 

It is equally known that such constraints 
produce the worst effects on the function of 
respiration, and consequently on that of circula- 
tion generally. 



58 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



It is not less known, that such constraints, 
acting on the cellular tissue around the bosom, 
are not only injurious to the beauty of its form, 
but expose it to future diseases of the most dan- 
gerous kind. 

In the same manner, want of exercise prevents 
all the organs from acquiring that firmness of 
structure which renders their movements more 
effective and useful. 

As, moreover, active exercise, which brings 
into action a number of muscles, does not con- 
fine its eftects to the parts in motion, but 
, influences also the great vital organs contained 
in the trunk of the body ; so does repose of all 
the muscles influence, in an opposite manner, all 
the same organs of life. 

Want of exercise prevents the liquids from 
experiencing that transpression which perfects 
them, by passing frequently through various 
vessels and -filters. Stagnating from want of 
action on the part of the solids, they spontane- 
ously alter ; their composition is deranged ; and 
the elements which form them either separate 
or produce new combinations. 

A great evil arising from want of exercise is 
constipation of the bowels. 

It would indeed appear, that from want of 



DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 59 

exercise, every vital function decreases in energy, 
except, in some persons, the oily secretion. 

" It is,'' says Cabanis, a high authority, here 
quoted for those less able to observe and reason, 

it is for the most part only the want of bodily 
movement and respiration in the open air, and 
some other errors in regimen, food, clothing, 
&c., which render young women so often ailing, 
which retard, or derange, or prevent some of 
their essential functions, and which make of 
them deplorable victims at the age of nubihty 
and of happiness/' 

While I am writing this, Sir Anthony Carlisle, 
who is one of the last, if I mistake not, of the 
favorite disciples of John Hunter, that remains 
to us, and who, like that illustrious man, has ever 
sought to ennoble his profession, by founding all its 
practice on the great truths of physical science, 
— states tome an important fact, which may with 
far more propriety be stated by one so pro- 
foundly experienced, and so justly distinguished, 
than it can be by me : — namely, that the causes 
which I have here described lead especially to 
an excess of all those bodily infirmities and 
deformities which, in young women of rank and 
affluence, destroy their ability to extend their 
families, and cause the heirship to titles and 



60 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



fortunes to be in general so soon extin- 
guished/' 

Those with whom neither reasoning nor these 
supreme authorities prevail, are reckless of all 
consequences to the welfare and happiness of 
their children. 

THE INJURY THUS DONE TO THE MENTAL 
ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS, OR THOSE ON 
WHICH THOUGHT DEPENDS. 

The physical constraint to which young women 
are subjected, is necessarily attended by a mental 
constraint, which is absurdly mistaken for the 
means of education. It is indeed for the sake of 
this education, wretched as it is ! that much of 
this constraint is endured. 

By the word education, is meant, not the 
attention bestowed upon developing the phy- 
sical and moral faculties, but simply the pre- 
cocious acquirement of a little fancy needle- 
work, a httle French, a little Italian, a little 
singing, a little dancing, &c. ; and this being 
acquired, the happy parents regard their daugh- 
ter, not as a puppet, mentally as well as bodily 
enfeebled, but as a model of perfection. 

If, during the ill-timed struggle to attain this, 
the young lady's physical constitution has been 



DElOliMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 61 

unable to unfold itself, and she remains weak, 
pale and nervous, this is imputed to original 
constitution ; and the ruin of strength and 
health, is thus compensated for by the most 
slight and superficial acquirements. 

They forget that those to whom the education 
of woman is intrusted, ought to know something 
of her temperament in general, and of her mind 
in particular. 

Anthropologists have observed that the tem- 
perament of woman is that of infancy, and that 
it is marked by weakness and sensibility. 

The weakness of woman arises from the ex- 
treme tenderness of the fibres of which the mus- 
cles are composed, the greater quantity of the 
cellular tissue which unites them, and the abun- 
dance of the juices which moisten them. 

This delicacy seems to be naturally accom- 
panied by an openness to impressions, and a 
sensibility which is lively and easily excited ; for 
when the weakness of woman is increased by 
any circumstance, the delicacy and susceptibility 
of the organs become greater, and the sensibility 
increases to a malady. 

Thus is woman far more sensible than man. 
As, moreover, all the parts and tissues of which 
woman is formed are finer, more delicate, and 

G 



62 PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 

more supple, this smallness induces agility ; for 
it is a rule, almost without exception, that the 
smaller animals are, of their particular kind, 
the more rapid and multiplied are their move- 
ments. 

Thus is woman, by nature, far more inclined 
than man to movement, however slight its de- 
scription. 

Indeed, muscular movement and the develop- 
ment of sensibility arise from a common prin- 
ciple, nervous action, which must be equally 
employed in both these phenomena. 

Now, as exercise strengthens the body, it is 
easy to conceive that repose must accumulate 
sensibility ; and that unless they alternate with 
each other, either the one or the other is gene- 
rated in excess. 

Accordingly, in leaving unemployed a con- 
siderable part of the muscular fibres, repose 
enfeebles them directly, and it permits the forces 
which should actuate them in muscular motion, 
to follow the central tendency which carries them 
towards the nervous system. 

By this means, all the functions more directly 
dependent on sensibility acquire great predomi- 
nence over those which are, properly speaking, 
only series of physical movements. 



DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 63 

Hence, nothing so much foments the passions 
as solitude and inaction. Hence, the greater 
number of the affections of girls arise, as Sevign^ 
says, d'avoir toujours le cul sur selle.'' 

All the ills, indeed, which afflict the luxurious 
women of our great cities are a consequence of 
this error. Lounging on soft couches, protected 
from cold, heat, atmosphere and light, they are 
afraid of every thing, shun every thing, and suffer 
as much as the unsheltered wretch. 

We every day see that if sensibility acquire 
that influence, which, in females of a certain class, 
the inaction of the muscles and the development 
of the passions cause it to usurp, the vital powers 
soon fail in the regularity of their action, and 
the mental powers become perverted, and in their 
aberrations, produce nervous diseases. 

Hence, then, spring all those convulsive mala- 
dies which are much more frequent in feeble and 
delicate women than in others. They are, indeed, 
the natural punishment of a life passed in luxury 
and indolence. 

In woman, there is nothing, not even aberra- 
tion of intellect, erotic and religious insanity, 
which is not ascribable to the cause now des- 
cribed. — All her good and all her bad qualities 
are the consequences of her weakness and sensi- 
bility. 



64 



OF MR. SHAW'S MISTAKE AS TO THE ORIGIN 
OF LATERAL CURVATURE. 

In consequence/' says Mr. Shaw, of the 
alteration in the state of the shoulders being the 
first symptom of deformity observed, it is gene- 
rally, but erroneously supposed, that the dorsal 
part of the spine is the first distorted. Indeed, 
those who have lately written on the subject have 
fallen into this error, and have described the 
curve at the loins as the last which is formed."* 

I shall endeavour to show that they were right 
in this, though they did not clearly see the cause. 

" In cases of diseased vertebrse there may be 

* The first, which is slight, usually begins in the cer- 
vical vertebrae, with the convexity towards the point of 
the left shoulder ; a larger one is met with, in the dorsal, 
towards the right side ; and again a curve of less extent 
than the latter in the lumbar vertebrae, with the coQcavity 
towards the right ilium." — Ward on Distortions of the Spine, 
p. 41. 

" As soon as the lateral curvature is formed in the dorsal 
portion of the spine, the ordinary centre of gravity of the 
body is lost ; and, in order to maintain its equilibrium, the 
patient inclines the cervical and lumbar portions of the 
spine in the reverse direction." — Bampjield on Diseases of 
the SpijiCy p. 167. 



SHAw's MISTAKE AS TO LATERAL CURVATURE. 65 

a curve only between the shoulders ; but it inva- 
riably happens in the common lateral curvature, 
that, where one shoulder is protruded, there is 
also a curve at the loins ; and I have shown by 
diagrams, in the preceding volumes, that this curve 
is not only the first formed, but that those in 
the upper part of the spine are consequent upon 
it." 

That is to say, Mr. Shaw has shown this hypo- 
thetically ; while his own practical observations, 
in spite of his hypothesis, tend to prove (as the 
reader has already seen, under the heads *of 

standing,'' writing,'' and lying in bed,") 
that the first curve is formed at the right 
shoulder, 

A circumstance, not less decisive, establishes 
this, namely, that, in seven cases out of eight, 
the curvature between the shoulders is toward 
the right side. Now, for this, the excessive action 
of the right arm can alone account ; and conse- 
quently, it is there only that the first curve can 
be formed. 

" When the practitioner, under the idea that 
the dorsal part is the first affected, directs his 
attention principally to it, he is apt to neglect 
the root of the evil ; for as the upper curves are 
the consequences of the lower, it ahnost neces- 

G 2 



66 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



sarily follows, that if the lumbar part can be 
made straight, the dorsal and cervical vertebrse 
must also become so ; if they did not, the head 
would be carried to one side." 

Mr. Shaw here takes for granted what has just 
been shown to be untrue. But there can be no 
doubt that the correction of any one of the 
spinal curves will tend to rectify the rest. 

By taking this view of the formation of dis- 
tortion, I was led to attend more to the means of 
remedying the curve at the loins than that at the 
shoulders, and I have found by experience that I 
was practically right ; for the only instances 
where the amendment of the curve between the 
shoulders has not followed the removal of the 
bend at the loins, have been where the upper 
ribs were much misshapen, or where anchylosis 
had taken place between two or three of the 
dorsal vertebrse ; but even in those cases, the 
curve which remained between the shoulders has 
been so short and so acute, as to have little effect 
on the general figure.*' 

I have just said that the correction of any one 
of the spinal curves will tend to rectify the rest ; 
for if the lumbar necessarily accompanies the 
dorsal curve, it follows that the latter will as ne- 
cessarily disappear with the former. Still, how- 



SHAw's MISTAKE AS TO LATERAL CURVATURE. 67 

ever, it is evident that common sense would 
direct preferably the removal of the curve first 
formed, or rather the removal of the causes which 
form it, in the excessive employment of the right 
arm. 

It is the curve at the loins, much more than 
that higher up, which gives the peculiar appear- 
ance to girls who are distorted ; for, as this 
curve is near the base of the column, it throws 
all the parts above out of their natural line, and 
also affects the motions of the legs, as the great 
muscles which rotate and move the thighs for- 
ward, rise from this part of the spine." 

That the lower curve as directly affects the 
motions of the lower extremities, as the upper 
curve affects the motions of the upper extremi- 
ties, proves nothing as to the prior formation of 
either, and is not therefore to the present pur- 
pose. 

I suspect that too much importance lias 
been attached to the position of the shoulders 
as a cause of lateral distortion. The more I see 
of this serpentine curvature of the spine, the 
more I am convinced, that although the distor- 
tion will be always much increased, and occa- 
sionally produced, by certain positions, it is 



68 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



generally caused, in the first instance, by the 
yielding" of the lumbar portion of the spine to 
the superincumbent weight. 'V 

It is a suitable close of such illogical argu- 
ment, that Mr. Shaw only suspects'' that the 
position of the shoulders is a cause of little im- 
portance in the production of lateral distortion ! 
and that he assures the reader of his convic- 
tion'' on the subject! Both the facts he himself 
has stated as to the position of the shoulder in 
standing, writing, and lying in bed, and the cir- 
cumstance that, in seven cases out of eight, the 
curvature between the shoulder is toward the 
right side, prove that the wrong position of the 
right shoulder is the great cause of this universal 
deformity. 

But a very important question still remains : 
— What is it that causes this portion of the spine 
to yield ? This I shall now endeavour to inves- 
tigate. 

" The first cause which I would assign is the 
want of sufficient general exercise, and especially 
of that which acts more immediately^ on the 
muscles of the back. [All writers have agreed 
that this, as a remote cause, produces general 
debility ; but it is not an imm.ediate or a local 



SHAW's MISTAKE AS TO LATERAL CURVATURE. 69 



cause.] The second is the almost necessary 
yielding' of the lumbar portion* of the spine to 
the weight of the upper part of the body, if the 
girl be allowed to sit at work, or practise at the 
piano-forte for hours without any artificial sup- 
port. [But this is vague talking*. The question 
is, why do the lumbar vertebree yield to the left 
side ? Obviously, because the dorsal vertebra 
yield to the right shoulder, compelled by its ex- 
cessive employment.] The third cause 1 would 
name, is the habit of lounging or balancing the 
body on one leg. [But this raises the right 
shoulder.] The fourth, the habit of sitting awry 
while writing or drawing. [But this also raises 
the right shoulder.] The fifth, the habit of 
sleeping on a soft bed and with a high pillow. 
[But this likewise raises the right shoulder.] 
The sixth, the more frequent use of the right 

♦ " This is the most moveable part of the spine, and 
although it supports the weight of the chest, head, and 
arms, it is not strengthened by the locking of its processes, 
nor by the attachments of the ribs, as the dorsal part is. 
As it is thus so dependant on its muscles, it must yield 
more readily than any other part when a girl is in a slightly 
debilitated state either after recovering from fever or 
measles, or from the bad health that often accompanies a 
change in the constitution," 



70 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES, 



than of the left arm. [But this too can act 
only by raising the right shoulder.] And, lastly, 
I would assign as a cause of curvature most of 
the attempts that are made to correct the figure, 
or to model it into a certain form. [But these 
attempts owe their existence only to the same 
ignorance which Mr. Shaw here displays of the 
fact, that it is the one-sidedness with which 
almost all the acts of life are performed, that is 
the general cause of this deformity.] 

I have dwelt thus long on the mistake of Mr. 
Shaw, because if the cause of the deformity be 
misunderstood, its cure is not likely to be well 
conducted. 



71 



OF THE PARTICULAR AND SPECIAL 
UTILITY OP EXERCISES. 

GREAT MUSCULAR STRENGTH TO BE DEPRECATED. 

In regard to strength in general, it may be 
observed that, in the present state of society, we 
have less need of it than the people of ancient 
times. Muscular strength is a kind of superiority 
no longer in such favour; and the aim of gymnastics 
is consequently nothing more than to endow the 
body with all the strength, vigor and activity, 
compatible with health, without injury to the 
development of the intellectual faculties. 

Moreover, the education which is suited to the 
male, is not calculated to render the female 
amiable and useful in society. 

This is an observation of all times. The 
ancients were too good observers not to know 
that woman, by her less stature, her weaker 
organization, her predominant sensibiUty, and 
her peculiar function of multiplying the species, 
was not destined by nature to such toilsome 
labours as man. 

We seek, accordingly, to develop in woman, that 
6 



72 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



modesty and gentleness which are proper to her, 
that soft and attractive air which characterizes her, 
and those seductive graces which distinguish her. 

The constitution of women, indeed, bears only 
moderate exercise. Their feeble arms cannot 
support severe and long-continued labour. It 
renders them meagre, and deforms the organs, by 
compressing and destroying that cellular sub- 
stance which contributes to the beauty of their 
outlines and of their complexion. The graces 
accommodate themselves little to labour, per- 
spiration and sun-burning. 

WEAKNESS TO BE STILL MORE DEPRECATED. 

We must not, however, conclude from this, 
that females should be kept in a state of continual 
repose, or that the delicacy of their organization 
prevents their taking exercise. 

I have stated that the effect of exercise is, by 
frequent contraction of the fibres, to brace the 
muscles and render them stronger, and generally 
to give more strength to the organs. 

Nothing evidently can be more suitable to the 
organization of woman. Her tissues are soft and 
flexible; exercise renders them more firm and 
resisting: her fibres are thin and weak; exercise 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



73 



increases their size and strength : they are moist- 
ened with oils and juices; exercise diminishes the 
superabundant humidity. 

It is a fact that labour, even the most excessive, 
is not so much to be feared as absolute idleness. 
The state of want which forces some women of 
the lowest class to perform labours that should be 
reserved for men, deprives them only of some 
attractions. Excessive indolence, on the contrary, 
destroys at once health, and that which women 
value more than health, though it never can sub- 
sist without it, namely beauty. 

ILLL'STRATIONS OF THE UTILITY OF EXERCISE. 

The more robust state of health in females 
brought up in the country, is attributable to the 
exercise they enjoy. Their movements are active 
and firm ; their appetite is good, and their com- 
plexion florid ; they are alert and gay; they know 
neither pain nor lassitude, although they are in 
action without cessation under all kinds of wea- 
ther. It is exercise which gives them vigor, health 
and happiness — exercise to which they are so 
frequently subjected, even in infancy and youth. 

We observe, also, that in a family where there 
are several sisters of similar constitution, the one 

II 



74 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



who from circumstances has been accustomed to 
regular and daily exercise, almost always pos- 
sesses most strength and vigor. 

Mothers and teachers, therefore, instead of 
fearing that their children should fatigue them- 
selves by exertion in active sports, should subject 
them early to it. They will thus give them more 
than merely hfe and instruction ; they will confer 
on them health and strength. 

OBJECTION'S TO EXERCISE ANSWERED. 

But some mothers are afraid ^ to see their 
daughters entering with spirit into exercises, and 
are of opinion that health cannot be obtained 
without sacrificing those graces which a female 
who is intended for society should possess. 

They may rest assured that no recommender 
of exercise would endeavour to make a stout 
robust woman of a little, delicate and nervous 
girl, or would prescribe for her the female gym- 
nastics of the half-naked women of Lacedoemon, 
as instituted by Lycurgus. 

What we can, and what we should endeavour 
to do, is to obtain a good constitution, absence 
from all deformity, and sufficient strength to 
prevent the display of vicious sensibility, but not 
^ 3 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



75 



to destroy that delicacy and those attractions 
which constitute beauty and grace. 

But it may be feared that the peculiar structure 
and the natural weakness of woman, may render 
dangerous the exercises intended to combat it. 

Those who make such objections should recol- - 
lect that the circumstances which distinguish the 
sexes, and which modify them, remain imperfect 
and without action, until the age of puberty, and 
that children of both sexes have nearly the same 
appetites, the same wants, and the same inclina- 
tions. It is hence we recognize in them nearly 
the same physiognomy, a similar tone of voice 
and similar manners. 

This will be the less surprising when it is known 
that the internal organization, even the structure 
of the bones, has a greater resemblance in early 
life than at a subsequent period. Thus until 
they arrive at maturity, the pelvis or basin, is 
rarely larger than in youths. Hence all the ex- 
ercises which depend upon position and vv^alking, 
will not be more difficult for them than for boys; 
while for full-grown women, these exercises are 
much more difficult and embarrassing. 



76 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



UTILITY OF EXERCISE IN RELATION TO THE 
LOCOiMOTIVE, NUTRITIVE, AND THINKING 
SYSTEMS. 

This community of structure, as well as the 
fact that, at this early age, activity, restlessness 
and the desire of motion are remarkable in girls, 
all point out the danger of repose. 

Instead, therefore, of being afraid of exercise 
for young girls, we should subject them to it 
as soon as possible ; and when this is done, 
they uniformly prove the truth of the observation 
made by teachers of exercises, that females, in 
agility, precision and address, surpass boys of the 
same age. 

So much for the effects of exercise upon the 
locomotive system. 

With regard to the vital or nutritive system, 
it is not less certain that exercise augments the 
circulation and respiration, and perfects the 
formation of the blood and the nourishment of 
the body, in the same proportion in which the 
power of the lungs is developed. 

By carrying toward the exterior the forces 
which, during a state of repose, tend almost al- 
ways to concentrate themselves either in the brain 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



77 



or in the abdominal org-ans, exercise makes of 
these forces a more exact distribution, re-esta- 
blishes or maintains their equihbrium, and, by 
exciting the circulation, provokes the insensible 
perspiration, without which health and beauty 
are impossible. 

In relation to the diseases of this system, it is 
evident that, when the circulation is reanimated 
and accelerated, fewer engorgements of blood 
take place in the abdominal and inferior regions, 
and the inertia of chlorosis is dissipated. 

In regard to the mental system,, exercise, 
while it increases the activity of the muscles, pre- 
vents, as we have seen, the vicious predominance 
of the sensitive system. Diseased sensibility can 
never exist where the constitution has not been 
suffered to become enervated by indolence. 
When external agitation employs our faculties, 
the interior reposes. 

If already the defective power of the mental 
functions tends to too vivid mobility, exercise 
gives them more of the stability of energy. The 
nervous susceptibility, which is increased by 
weakness, is reduced to its proper degree, as soon 
as exercise has strengthened the organs. By this 
useful diversion, the affections of the heart are 
calmed. Otia si tollas, periere Cupidinis arcus." 

H 2 



78 



PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



But this is not all : by diminishing the causes 
of exaggeration in the affections and passions, 
mildness and goodness, the most certain sources 
of happiness, remain in conjunction with health. 

There can, therefore, be no doubt of the utility 
of exercise in remedying whatever may be defec- 
tive in the female organization, and laying the 
foundation of a constitution exempt from infirmi- 
ties and disease. 

OF EXERCISE AS THE REMEDY OF DEFORMITY. 

In any attempt to cure deformity, it is evident 
that the causes which have a tendency to produce 
it, should first be guarded against. AW sorts of 
collars and other machines should be rejected ; 
children should not be suffered to remain too 
long bent to one side ; they should never be 
allowed to carry or raise a very heavy weight 
with one hand ; the right arm must not be used 
more frequently than the left, &c. &c. 

No mode of treatment is so capable, not only 
of preventing spinal deformity, but of curing 
slio'ht decrees of it, as suitable exercises. But 
these exercises must be superintended by a person 
acquainted with the common causes of defor- 
mity, and with the functions of tlie various mus- 



UTILI'IY OF EXERCISES. 



79 



cles which may rectify it — a kind of knowledge 
not always found even among medical men. 

Mr. Shaw says, we may now enquire how 
far certain exercises are calculated to improve 
the figure." And he exemplifies this by exercises 
utterly unfit for ladies, by some, indeed, of the 
most violent exercises that can be imagined, such 
as cHmbing a rope ladder, a pole, or a single 
rope as is done by a sailor ! These are wrong in 
all cases. But no man can direct or guide exer- 
cises for the remedy of distortion, who, like Mr. 
Shaw, is ignorant of its cause, and thinks it 
generally begins in the lumbar region instead of 
the dorsal. Mr. Shaw has accordingly given no 
plan of treatment founded on its real cause — the 
one-sidedness I have described. 

In proof of this, I need only quote the follow- 
ing passage: "Were the curve of the spine in 
one direction only, it would be easy to describe 
the sort of exercise proper to remedy it ; but as 
in all common cases of lateral curvature, there 
are several curves, the exercise that is useful in 
counteracting the one may increase the other." 

Now this is absolute nonsense ; for, as one 
curve generates the rest, it is evident that the 
exercise which is capable of correcting that curve, 
will correct the whole. 



PART II. 

PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



OF THE KINDS OF EXERCISE. 

The exercises called active, are those in which 
more or less of the body is moved and agitated 
by its own powers, with or without the particular 
guidance of the organs of sense, or the sustained 
direction of the organ of the will. 

These exercises always produce a general 
excitement of the body more or less powerful. 

The class called passive, or communicated 
exercises, are those in which the whole body is 
acted upon and moved by a cause external to 
and independent of muscular action, or without 
the muscles assisting in any other way than by a 
contraction merely sufficient to preserve a certain 
position. 

These exercises merely produce a succession 
of impulses in the living parts, calculated to brace 
and strengthen them without exciting. 

Mixed exercises, such as riding on horseback, 
produce each of these results in different degrees. 



81 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 

These, indeed, are not properly exercises, 
because the body is moved in them without any 
effort of its own ; but as they are often employed 
as an introduction to active exercises, it would 
have been improper to omit a sort of preliminary 
notice of them. 

Passive exercises have a remarkable effect upon 
nutrition: they increase the strength and vigour 
of some organs, without much excitement, raising- 
no beatings of the heart, nor overheating, nor, 
generally speaking, producing perspiration. 

Without enquiring by what means nutrition 
is, under their influence, performed with greater 
energy, and rendered more general, it may be 
observed that, thereby, the organs of which the 
body is composed, appear to experience, through- 
out their substance, a number of vibrations 
which may exercise their fibres, augment their 
density, and render them stronger. 

While, in active exercises, nutrition is distri- 
buted so that the more certain parts are exer- 
cised, the more preponderance they acquire, in 
relation to others which lose power in the same 



82 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



proportion; in passive exercises, on the contrary, 
nutrition exists in the most perfect equality. 

Friction with the hand and with the flesh- 
brush; shampooing, &c. may be ranked with 
passive exercises. 

In the SWING, if a second person gives the 
impulse, the exercise is purely passive ; but if 
the person swinging assist in the action, or per- 
form it alone, it has, in the same proportion, the 
effects of active exercise. This exercise, how- 
ever, is dangerous, unless used with discretion: 
great care should be taken that the ropes are 
strong and well secured, and the seat fastened 
firmly. 

Suspended couches form an exercise similar 
to swinging; the only difference being that the 
person exercised reclines, instead of sitting up- 
right, and that the curve described in the motion 
is considerably less. This exercise is more espe- 
cially useful in alleviating pain and in producing 
sleep. 

See-saw furnishes a succession of movements 
w^hich are more powerful than the preceding. 
As it consists in balancing a plank, the centre of 
which rests upon a solid axis, one person being 
seated at each end, and one rising as the other 
descends, this exercise is not exactly passive ; 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 



83 



each party takes an active part, either to keep 
herself on, or to rise, by impelling the extremity 
of the lever when it strikes the ground. 

Sailing, considered only as a movement 
communicated, has not so great an effect upon 
the functions as carriage exercise. The sailor 
experiences a succession of balancings, rather 
than shocks. 

It nevertheless presents physical agents which 
produce a remarkable change in the constitution 
of sailors. These appear to be : — 

First. The greater purity of the air at sea 
than on land. Although the ocean is inhabited 
by an immense number of living beings, the 
decomposition of their bodies does not appear to 
produce any putridity in the water ; and they 
consequently produce none in the atmosphere 
which rests on its surface. 

Secondly. The temperature of the surface of 
the sea, which is cooler, more uniform, and less 
changeable than that on shore. The land, in 
some places, by means of its mountains and 
vallies, seems to concentrate and preserve im- 
mense quantities of solar heat, to which other 
places are by their position inaccessible. This 
cannot be the case at sea, where nothing inter- 
feres with the free course of caloric. 



.84 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



Carriage exercise produces greater motions, 
because the flooring* upon which the feet rest 
necessarily receives the jolts and shocks which 
the wheels cause, owing to the roughness of the 
ground, and transmits them to the person within. 

If the ground be very uneven, and the speed 
great, the shocks may be so continual and 
violent, as to render this exercise insupportable 
and injurious to very Aveak constitutions. If the 
rate be slower and easily endured, it is evident 
that it may, in some cases, have beneficial effects 
upon the organs. 

The refinement in building carriages, however, 
is carried so far that not only do the shocks 
received by the wheels no longer transmit any 
percussive motion to our organs, but even the 
most easy balancing scarcely reach us. 

This mode of exercise in a carriage cannot 
consequently be of great utility in re-establishing 
a constitution enervated by luxury or study. It 
is calculated rather to increase what is termed 
nervous susceptibility, to put us out of a condi- 
tion to resist the most trifling collision, and to 
render us still more attentive to all the slight 
shades of disagreeable sensation. 

The transmission of shocks being in indirect 
ratio to the elasticity of the springs, and direct 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 



85 



to the tension of the braces, carriages of this 
kind, in which the springs are the least elastic, 
and the braces as tight as possible, appear, in 
many instances, to be the most suitable ; for if, 
on one side, the line of motion should be suffi- 
ciently broken to avoid the rough shocks that a 
cart produces, on the other, it should not be 
sufficiently broken to annul the shocks which 
constitute precisely the advantage of this kind of 
exercise. 

As carriage exercise gives more vigour to the 
organs, without adding to the activity of their 
functions, — facilitates assimilation, without occa- 
sioning loss, — and enjoys, in a very high degree, 
the advantages peculiar to passive exercises ; it is, 
when necessary, suited to all ages, particularly 
to the two extremes of life, and is very favorable 
to the re-establishment of convalescents who 
cannot yet take any active exercise. 



I 



86 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



MIXED EXERCISES. 

Mixed exercises are composed of two orders 
of movement : the first is communicated to the 
individual by an external power ; the second has 
its principle in the individual herself, and is not 
generally executed except to regulate the first. 

The effects of these exercises are of course the 
same as the effects of passive exercises joined to 
active ones. 

Riding furnishes an example of what has just 
been stated. 

In riding, the shock of the horse's feet upon 
the ground produces in the animal's body a 
percussive action, which shakes the rider. She 
undergoes a succession of lively shocks, of which 
the action is very extensive, if the horse be 
trotting, cantering, or galloping. If, on the 
contrary, the horse is walking slowly, the effects 
are very trifling* 

Equitation is recommended to ladies in too 
general a manner, and is proper for them only 
under particular circumstances. When the 
health is not impaired, this exercise has many 



MIXED AND ACTIVE EXERCISES. 87 



disadvantages, in the twist it gives the body, — 
the raising of the shoulder, — the enlargement of 
the size of the waist, by the exercise of its muscles 
in maintaining the balance, — the deforming of 
the limbs, — the rendering the voice coarse, — the 
injury of the complexion, — the unnatural con- 
solidation of the bones of the lower part of the 
body, — the improper irritation and subsequent 
debility it produces, — the masculine air it be- 
stows, &c. &c. 

Roussel justly remarks, that ladies never 
derive, from riding, the same advantage as men; 
for, being compelled to indulge in it with pre- 
caution, they seem, in mounting on horseback, 
to lose those graces which are natural to them, 
without gaining those of the sex which they 
endeavour to imitate. 



ACTIVE EXERCISES. 

These constitute nearly the whole of the 
work, and require, therefore, no preliminary 
notice here. 



88 



POSITION OF THE FIGURE. 

OF STANDING GENERALLY. 

Before entering into a detail of exercises, it is 
necessary to attend to position. 

A standing position consists of the many actions 
by which we keep ourselves up. 

Indeed this state, in which the body appears 
to be in repose, is itself a sort of exercise ; for it 
consists in a continued effort of numerous mus- 
cles. The explanation which we must give of it 
will somewhat facilitate that of walking. 

Every one has observed that during sleep, or 
in a fainting fit, the head inclines forward and 
falls upon the breast. This is in accordance 
with the laws of gravity; for the head, resting 
upon the first vertebra at a point of its base 
which is nearer its posterior than anterior part, 
cannot remain in an upright position, except by 
an effort of the muscles of the back of the neck : 
it is the cessation of this effort that causes it to 
fall forward. 

The body also is unable to remain straight, 



POSITION OF THE FIGURi:. 



89 



without fatigue. The vertebral column being 
placed behind, all the organs contained by the 
chest and abdomen are suspended in front of it, 
and would force it to bend forward, unless the 
strong muscles of the back held it back. A 
proof of this may be seen in pregnant women, 
who are compelled, in consequence of the anterior 
part of the body being heavier than usual, to 
keep the vertebral column more fixed, and even 
thrown backward. 

The same observation may be made with 
regard to the pelvis, basin or lowest part of the 
trunk, which, by its conformation, would bend 
forward upon the thighs, if not kept back by the 
great muscles that form the hips. 

In front of the thighs again are the muscles 
which, by keeping the patella or kneepan in posi- 
tion, are the means of preventing the knee from 
bending. 

Lastly, the muscles forming the calves of the 
legs, by contracting, are the means of preventing 
the ankles from bending. 

Such is the general mechanism of the standing 
position. It is, therefore, as observed, a con- 
currence of efforts : almost all the extending 
muscles are in a state of contraction all the time 
that this position is maintained. 

I 2 



90 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



The consequence of all this is a fatigue which 
cannot be endured for any great length of time. 
Hence, we see persons in a standing position rest 
the weight of the body, first on one foot, then on 
the other, for the purpose of procuring momentary 
ease to certain muscles. 

For this reason also, standing-still is more 
fatiguing than walking, in which the muscles are 
alternately contracted, and extended. 

Females, in particular, find the standing posi- 
tion very fatiguing, however it may be modified. 

In consequence of the pelvis, basin or lowest 
part of the body being larger in them than in 
man, the bones of the thighs are more separated 
above, and as they necessarily approach more 
closely below, this produces an inchnation to 
be in-kneed. It is true the feet are not so close 
together as in men ; but as they are smaller and 
do not so well support a standing position in 
front, where there is most need of support, it is, 
in fact, more difficult for women. 

We may remark, however, that the pelvis not 
being developed before the age of puberty, the 
standing position of young girls is the same as in 
youths. 

A question of importance on this subject is, 
what position of the feet affords the greatest soli- 



i 




POSITION OF THE FIGURE. 



91 



dity in standing. Here it is sufficient to state 
the fact, that the larger the base of support, the 
firmer and more solid will the position be. 



THE POSITION IN STANDING OR WALKING. 

In walking, the head should be upright, easy, 
and capable of free motion, right, left, up, or 
down, without affecting the position of the body. 

The body must be kept erect, and generally 
square to the front, having the breast advanced, 
the back hollowed, and the stomach rather drawn 
in, but without constraint, and by no means so 
as to inj ure either freedom of respiration, or ease 
of attitude. 

The shoulders should in general be kept mode- 
rately and equally back and low; the elbows 
rather turned in and close to the sides ; the arms 
hanging unconstrainedly by the sides, and the 
hands slightly open to the sides and forward. 

The balance on the limbs must be perfect; 
the knees straight ; the heels never too far apart ; 
and the toes turned out in not less than a right 
angle.— (•S^e Plate Vin,/</. 1.) 



92 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



What has now been said regards the general 
position of the whole figure; and to this the 
more particular positions of the feet which are 
the elements of dancing, are properly a sequel. 
Both, therefore, on their own account and for 
the sake of what follows, they must be next 
described. It is of great importance that they be 
thoroughly understood and accurately and easily 
performed. 



POSITIONS IN DANCING. 

By positions in dancing are meant a certain 
degree of turning out the toes, as well as various 
modes of placing the feet in relation to each 
other. 

Strange to tell, there is not one work on 
dancing with which I am acquainted, which does 
not give the most antiquated and injurious direc- 
tions on this subject,* — directions, which, if acted 

* I could refer by name to one compilation (which 
falsely pretends to have made three editions, though it 
has not sold one, and has only three times endeavoured to 
humbug the public by means of a new title-page), as full 
of such trash. 



POSITIONS OF THE FIGURE. 



93 



upon, would ensure the ruin both of the form of 
the feet and of the gait in walking ! All direct 
the toes to be turned quite laterally or straight 
outward : the first position/' they say, is 
formed by placing the heels together and throw- 
ing the toes back, so that the feet form a 
straight line,^' — a position so unnatural, painful, 
and destructive to the feet, that I will venture to 
assert that none but stage dancers have, for the 
last half century, made use of it. 

In the first edition, I participated in the com- 
mon error as to the positions in dancing. In 
doing so, I trusted to professional assistance — 
ignorant how worthless such assistance is. In 
this edition, I have, therefore, trusted to no one, 
but have taken the article on dancing, and what- 
ever regards it, like all the rest, into my own 
hands, and reformed it entirely. 

To show that this opinion as to the injurious 
consequences of the positions' in dancing is not 
peculiar, I might quote all the works written by 
men of any science upon the subject. Mr. Shaw 
says, that in consequence of the unnatural posi- 
tions assumed by opera dancers, " all the liga- 
ments of the foot, and especially the lateral 
ligaments of the ankle, are so unnaturally long, 
that the foot can be turned in every direction as 



94 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



easily as the hand. The bad consequences result- 
ing from this looseness of the joints, do not appear 
when the performer is dancing or strutting along 
the stage, as the muscles of the leg are then in 
an artificial state of exertion, and for a time pre- 
serve the bones in a proper relation to each 
other ; but the effect is quite obvious when the 
dancers are walking in the streets, for then, while 
attempting to walk naturally, they have distinctly 
a shuffling gait. This is particularly observable 
in old dancers, who have retired from the stage, 
for the muscles havins: by disuse lost their tone, 
the bad effects of leno^thenino; and strainino- the 
ligaments are then distinctly marked. 

" Indeed, these evils are not confined to a 
peculiarity of gait, for the feet of almost every 
opera dancer, excepting those called pantomimes, 
are deformed, and even some of the dancers, 
while in full vigour and most admired, are actu- 
ally lame. This may appear a bold assertion, 
but if a high instep be important to a well- 
formed foot, these dancers' feet are deformed, for, 
with few exceptions, they are quite flat ; and that 
they are lame cannot be denied, as they have^ 
almost all, a halt in their gait. 

If we consider the manner in which they are 
taught, we shall not be surprised at this. They 



POSITIONS OF THE FIGURE. 95 

commence their discipline at a very early age, 
and their sole endeavour, for six or eight hours 
daily for many years, is to stretch the ligaments 
of the feet and ankles. This is done in various 
ways, but chiefly by standing for hours on the 
tips of their toes, their only respite being occa- 
sionally attempts to push the ankle bones towards 
the floor. In this way, the power of the muscles 
is soon exhausted, and the whole weight of the 
body being then sustained by the ligaments, they 
must yield, and hence those which bind the bones 
of the foot together become unnaturally length- 
ened. As a necessary consequence of the stretch- 
incr and elonD:ation of these lio;aments, the bones 
are separated from each other, and the feet are 
thus rendered nearly as flat as those of a 
monkey. 

" Although the shuffling gait and the lameness 
apparent in walking depend principally on the 
condition of the ligaments and of the muscles 
forming the calf of the leg, they may, in some 
degree, result from the dancer being so much 
accustomed to move on the tips of his toes, that 
it has become almost unnatural for him to bring 
his heel to the ground. Indeed the gait of an 
opera-dancer in walking may be said to resemble, 
in some respects, that of a bear dancing; for this 



96 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



animal, which hke all other quadrupeds walks on 
the tips of his toes, when obliged to dance, must 
bring his heel or os calcis, to the ground." 

In all the positions of the feet, the general 
position already described is adhered to, except 
that the forefinger and thumb are employed in 
holding out the dress, and that the feet undergo 
the following variations. 

In the first position, the heels are close to each 
other, and the feet turned out equally, so as to 
form more than a right angle, or than two sides 
of a square. — (See Plate VIII, Jig. 2.) 

In the second position, the feet, retaining the 
same angular direction, are parted laterally, the 
distance between them not being more than that 
of the foot, in order that the body may have the 
facility of throwing itself on either leg without 
any forced movement; the body, however, rests 
on one foot, so that the heel and instep of the 
other are raised and its toes alone touch the 
ground ; both feet are on the same line ; and 
both are turned out equally, so that the body 
may rest upon either leg as in the first position. 
{See Plate VIII, fg. 3.) 

In the third position, the body is supported by 
both feet, which retain the same angular direc- 
tion, and one crossed nearly half over the other, 



POSITION OF THE FIGURE. 



97 



with which it is kept in contact. — (See Plate 
IX, Jiff. I.) 

In the fourth position, the feet, in the same 
angular direction, should be one before the other, 
at the distance of the foot, without being more 
crossed than to bring one heel over against the 
other ; because, if the feet are crossed in advanc- 
ing, the body cannot be raised with, facility, loses 
its equilibrium, and produces contortions. {See 
Plate IX, Jig, 2.) 

In the fifth position, the heel of one foot is 
brought close to, and must not pass beyond, the 
toes of the other. — {See Plate IX, fg. 3. 

In practising these positions, each foot should 
be alternately employed : in other words, the 
series of five positions should be performed alter- 
nately while resting chiefly ^n the left foot and 
moving the right, and whii-» resting, chiefly on 
the right foot, and moving the left. 

In all these positions, also, the hips, knees, 
and ankles may be bent (the knees always out- 
ward) without raising the heels in the least from 
the ground, or deranging the position of the 
body ; and they should be often practised on 
the toes. 

It should be observed, though it is not generally 
noticed, that the first position, which brings 

K 



98 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



the feet together at more than right angles, 
was used formerly, when steps were danced, for 
the assemblees ; that the second position, in which 
the feet are parted laterally, was used for the steps 
which open sideways ; that the third position, in 
which the limbs are as it were compressed together, 
was used for the close or shut steps ; that the fourth 
position, in which the feet are parted forward or 
backward, was used for steps which open in these 
directions; and that the fifth position, in which 
the feet cross each other, was used for the steps 
which cross. 



99 



EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS. 

THE EXTENSION MOTIONS. 

In order to supple the figure, open the chest, 
and give freedom to the muscles of soldiers, the 
first three movements of what they call the exten- 
sion motions, as laid down for the sword exercise, 
are ordered to be practised. 

It is, indeed, truly observed that too many 
methods cannot be used to improve the carriage, 
and banish a rustic air; and that the greatest 
care must be taken not to throw the body back- 
ward instead of forward, as being contrary to 
every true principle of movement. 

I accordingly here introduce these extension 
motions, as not less valuable to ladies than to 
men, rendering them more complete by the addi- 
tion of the fourth and fifth, and prefixing to each 
the respective word of command, in order that 
they may be the more distinctly and accurately 
executed. 

Attention. — The body is to be erect, the heels 
close together, and the hands hanging down on 



100 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



each side — that is in the general position already 
described. 

First extension Motion. — This command serves 
as a caution, and the motion tends to expand the 
chest, raise the head, throw back the shoulders, 
and strengthen the muscles of the back. 

One. — Bring' the hands and arms to the front, 
the fingers lightly touching at the points, and 
the nails downwards ; then raise them in a cir- 
cular direction well above the head, the ends of 
the fingers still touching, the thumbs pointing 
to the rear, the elbows pressed back, and the 
shoulders kept down. — {See Plate ^^Jig. 1.)* 

Two. — Separate and extend the arms and 
fingers, forcing them obhquely back, till they 
come extended on a line with the shoulders ; and, 
as they fall gradually thence to the original 
position of Attention, endeavour, as much as 
posible, to elevate the neck and chest. 

These two motions should be frequently prac- 
tised, with the head turned as much as possible 
to the right or left, and the body kept square to 

* Under the name of opera exercise, this first extension 
motion is practised, with the addition that the back is bent 
greatly, the chin thrown as high as the forehead, and the 
arms, after being raised above the head, dropped as far 
back as possible. 



102 PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



finger sides, and the knuckles upward, the latter 
being raised as high as the chin, and at the dis- 
tance of about a foot before it. — (See Plate XI, 

Two. — While the arms are thrown forcibly 
backward, the forearms are as much as possible 
bent upon the arms, and the palmar sides of the 
wrists are turned as much as possible outward. 
—{See Plate XI, /ig, 2.) 

These two motions are to be repeatedly and 
rather quickly performed. 



A modification of the same movements is per- 
formed as a separate extension motion, but may 
be given in continuation, with the numbers 
following these as words of command. 

Three. — The arms are extended at full length 
in front, on a level with the shoulders, the palms 
of the hands in contact. 

Four. — Thus extended, and the palms retain- 
ing their vertical position, the arms are thrown 
forcibly backward, so that the backs of the hands 
may approach each other as nearly as possible. — 
{See Plate XI, 3.) 

These motions also are to be repeatedly and 
rather quickly performed. 



EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS. 103 

Another extension motion, similarly added, 
consists in swinging the right arm in a circle, in 
which, beginning from the pendant position, the 
arm is carried upward in front, by the side of 
the head, and downward behind, the object 
being, in the latter part of this course, to throw 
it as directly backward as possible. — The same 
is then done with the left arm. — Lastly, both arms 
are thus exercised together. 

These motions are performed quickly. 



THE EXERCISE WITH THE ROD, OR SPANISH 
EXERCISES. 

The rod for this purpose should be light, 
smooth, inflexible, and need not be more than 
three or four feet in length. 

FIRST EXERCISE. 

The rod is first grasped near the extremities 
by the two hands, the thumbs being inward. — 
{See Plate XU,Jig. 1.) 

Without changing the position of the hands 
on the rod, it is then brought to a vertical posi- 
tion : the right hand being upperaiost holds it 



104 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



above the head, the left is against the lower part 
of the body. 

By an opposite movement, the right is lowered 
and the left raised. 

Tliis change is executed repeatedly and quickly. 

SECOND EXERCISE. 

From the first position of the rod, it is raised 
over the head; and, in doing so, the closer the 
hands are, the better will be the effect upon the 
shoulder. — {See Plate XII, 2.) 

It is afterwards carried behind the back, hold- 
ing so firmly that no change takes place in the 
position of the hands. — {See Plate XII, y?^. 3.) 

This movement is then reversed, to bring it 
back over the head to the first position. 

THIRD EXERCISE. 

The same exercises are performed by grasping 
the stick with the hands in an opposite position ; 
that is to say, with the thumbs in front or the 
palms of the hands fonvards. — {See Plate XIII, 

It is raised parallel with the shoulders, extending 
it first on the left and then on the right arm. 



EXERCISES rOR THE ARMS. 



105 



FOURTH EXERCISE. 

It is next raised above the head, the hands 
being still in their new position. — {See Plate XI 1 1, 

Jig- -2.) 

It is afterwards lowered behind the back. — 
{See Plate XIII, 3.) 

The exercise is concluded by bringing it to its 
original position in front. 



These exercises cannot be performed in all their 
different movements with promptitude and regu- 
larity without many trials and repetitions. Their 
tendency is to confirm the good position and the 
flexibility of the shoulders, produced by the 
extension motions. 



THE DUMB-BELLS. 

This instrument is one of the oldest used in 
gymnastics. It may be seen in the Latin work 
of Mercurialis de Arte Gymnastica ; and though 
its form was not precisely the same as at present, 



106 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



the result produced was similar. It has been 
long in use in England, where it enters into the 
school-exercise of most seminaries for the in- 
struction of ladies. 

For children from six to ten years of age, dumb- 
bells should not weigh more than from three to 
four pounds each; and for children from ten to 
fifteen years of age, they may weigh from four to 
six pounds each. 

To use dumb-bells with all the advantage they 
admit of, the young person should stand in the 
fundamental position already described. 

To obtain the first position, the hands and the 
dumb-bells are, by a slight rotatory movement 
of the arm outward and backward, brought 
behind the lower part of the body, so as to make 
the two extremities of the dumb-bells next to the 
httle fingers touch eacli other. 

The fingers in this case touch the muscles of 
the hips, and the back of the hand is outward. 
—{See Plate XlV^Jig. 1.) 

FIRST EXERCISE. 

In the first exercise from this position, a regular 
motion is commenced, which consists in giving 
to the depending and extended arms, at the 



I 




EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS. 107 

same time, a circular and rotatory movement, 
forwards and inwards, to the front of the body, 
so that the dumb-bells perform each a semicircle, 
(see Plate XIV, jftg, 2,) making a complete 
circle between them, but with this difference in 
position, that when they are behind, they touch 
at the exterior extremities, or those on the 
side of the little finger, and when they are in 
front of the thighs, they touch at the other 
extremities* 

SECOND EXERCISE. 

In the second exercise, — from the same position, 
the hands are raised together towards the front 
and middle of the chest, and approximated, so 
that the ball on the thumb side of one dumb-bell 
may touch that of the other. — {See Plate XIV, 
Jig, 3.) With the arms extended, they are then 
allowed to drop with sufficient force to swing them 
round the body to the first position. This is 
repeated several times. 

THIRD EXERCISE. 

In the third exercise, — from the same position, 
the arms are raised above the head, and the 



108 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



dumb-bells are made to touch at their extremities, 
being kept in a horizontal position. — {See Plate 
XV,Jig. 1.) The hands are then allowed to fall 
gently into the first position. 

FOURTH EXERCISE. 

In the fourth exercise, the arms are stretched 
out straight from the shoulders, — (See Plate XV, 
Jig. 2) ; and the hands are moved horizontally 
backwards, (iS'ee Plate XY,Jig. 3,) and forwards, 
the dumb-bells being in a vertical position. 



This employment of the dumb-bells should not 
at first be persisted in longer than a minute or 
two at a time ; but the duration of each succeeding 
exercise may be gradually increased. 

N.B. Until the introduction of the Indian 
sceptres, or Indian clubs, this exercise was 
valuable, notwithstanding the inconvenient jerks 
which it communicates to the shoulders. It 
should now be superseded by that exercise, 
which is incomparably m.ore varied, graceful, 
and beneficial. 



109 



THE INDIAN SCEPTRE EXERCISE. 

THE PORTION PRACTISED WITH CLUBS IN 
THE ARMY. 

1st. A sceptre is held by the handle, pendant 
on each side, {See Plate XVI, Jig. 1) ; — that in the 
right hand is carried over the head and left 
shoulder, until it hangs perpendicularly on the 
right side of the spine, (See Plate XYl,Jig, 2); 
— that in the left hand is carried over the former, 
in exactly the opposite direction, (See the same 
Jigure), until it hangs on the opposite side; — 
holding both sceptres still pendant, the hands are 
raised somewhat higher than the head, {See Plate 
XVI, j^^. 3); — with the sceptres in the same 
position, both arms are extended outward and 
backward, {See Plate XVII, 3); — they are, 
lastly, dropped into the first position. — All this is 
done slowly. 

2d. Commencing from the same position, the 
ends of both sceptres are swung upward until 
they are held, vertically, and side by side, at 
arms length, in front of the body, the hands 
being as high as the shoulders, {See Plate XVIIp 

l 



110 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



fig, 1); — they are next carried, in the same 
position, at arms length, and on the same level, 
as far backward as possible, (&e Plate XVIJ, 
jig, 2); — each is then dropped backward until 
it hangs vertically downward, {^See Plate XVII, 
fig, 3); — and this exercise ends as the first. 
Previous, however, to dropping the sceptres 
backwards, it greatly improves this exercise, by 
a turn of the wrist upward and backward, to 
carry the sceptres into a horizontal position 
behind the shoulders, so that if long enough, 
their ends will touch, {8ee Plate XVIII, yz^jr. I) ; 
— next, by a turn of the wrist outward and 
downward, to carry them horizontally outward, 
(See Plate XVIII, 2);— then by a turn of 
the wrist upward and forward, to carry them 
into a horizontal position before the breast, 
(See Plate XVIII, 3); — again, to carry them 
horizontally outward ; — and, finally, to drop them 
backward ; — and thence to the first position. — All 
this is also done slowly. 

3d. The sceptres are to be swung by the sides, 
first separately, and then together, exactly as the 
hands were in the last extension motion. 



J 



EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS. Ill 

THE NEW AND MORE BEAUTIEUL PORTION NOW 
ADDED FROM THE INDIAN PRACTICE. 

1st. The sceptres are held upright in front of 
the body, the elbows being near the hanches, 
and the forearms horizontal, {See Plate XIX, 
Jig, 1); — the sceptre in the right hand is then 
carried over the head and left shoulder, {See 
Plate XIX, Jig, 2), dropping as low as possible 
behind, {See Plate XIX, ^g. 3), and returning 
to its first position ; — the same is done with the 
left hand ; — then with the right ; — and so on 
with each alternately. — All this is performed 
with a swinging motion, so that the end of each 
sceptre describes a circle which commences 
before the head, descends obhquely backward, 
and ascends again. 

2d. After carrying the sceptre in the right 
hand from the same position around the head 
and left shoulder, as already described, it is 
stretched horizontally outward by the extended 
arm, {See Plate XX, Jig, 1) ; — and thence 
returned to the first position ; — the same is then 
done with the left hand ; — and so on with each 
alternately. — The swing is here broken by the 
lateral extension. 



112 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



3d. Here the feet being kept slightly apart, 
the sceptres, held chiefly between the thumb and 
first and second fingers, rest on the fironts of the 
arms extended downward and slightly forward, 
and reach somewhat obhquely from the thumb 
and now inner side of the hands, of which the 
backs are turned forward, to the outsides of the 
shoulders, (See Plate XX, y?^. 2); — that held in 
the left hand is then thrown over thes houlder 
and hangs downward behind it, while the whole 
of that side of the body is, by pivoting on the 
heels, turned forward, the back and neck bent, so 
that the chin is raised and the chest thrown 
upward, (See Plate XX, Jig. 3), and as the body 
is again turned to the front, that sceptre is drawn 
over the shoulder and brought to its first position; 
— at the moment in which the body reaches the 
front, however, the same begins to be done with 
the right hand; — and so on with each alternately. 

4th. Tliis differs from the second only in this 
respect, that the arms no longer act distinctly, 
but together; their motions being blended by the 
left commencing as soon as the right has made 
its circle round the head, and forming its own 
circle while the right is extending, and so on with 
regard to each. — This explanation and a reference 
to the description and plates illustrating the first 
and second exercise, make this quite plain. 



'A I 




EXERCISES FOR THE ARMS. 113 

5th. This differs from the third chiefly in this, 
that the arms no longer act distinctly, but 
together; both sceptres, however, being kept 
down until the lateral turn is complete {See Plate 
XXI, Jig. 1), both being then thrown over the 
shoulders at once, with the back and neck bent, 
(See Plate XXI, Jig. 2), and both returning 
gradually, {See Plate XXI, Jig. 3) over the 
shoulders as the body passes to the opposite 
side. 

6th. This is an exercise in which the lady 
crosses the apartment from side to side. The 
first exercise is here performed once with each 
arm, commencing with the arm of the side 
towards which the freer space permits her most 
readily to go. (See description and plates illus- 
trating the first Exercise.) Supposing this to be 
to the right of her first position, — on finishing 
the second circle of the first exercise,' namely 
that with the left arm, and bringing it in front, 
both sceptres being thrown to the right side, 
{See Plate XXII, fig. 1), are swung with 
extended arms to the left, sweeping in a circle 
downward in front of the feet, {See Plate XXII, 
Jig. 2), of which the left being at that moment 
lifted to perform a wheel backward upon the right 
toe, the face is turned opposite to its first direction, 

l 2 



114 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



ground is gained by the left foot placing itself 
toward what was originally the right side, and 
the ends of the sceptres, without the shghtest 
pause, continue their sweep upward to their first 
position, (See Plate XXII, Jig. 3). The same 
is only repeated; the lady remembering always 
to commence with the arm of the side to which 
she means to advance. 

Two Exercises are now added from Manly 
Exercises. Though more difficult, they are very 
beautiful, and may by any lady be acquired. 

7th. Beginning from either first position, the 
body being turned laterally, — for example to the 
left, — the sceptre in the right hand is thrown 
upward in that direction at the full extent of the 
arm, (See Plate XXIII, Jig. 1), making a large 
circle in front of the body, a circle in which it 
sweeps downward by the feet and upward over 
the head, (See Plate XXIII, Jg. 2 and 3), while 
the sceptre in the left hand at the same time 
performs the first exercise, (making a circle round 
the head and behind the shoulders), (See Plate 
XXIII, Jig. 1, 2 and 3), until crossing each other^ 
before the head (rather on the right side), their 
movements are exactly reversed, the sceptre in the 
right hand performing the suiall circle round the 
head, while that in the left performs the large one; 



FXERCISES FOK THE ARMS. 115 



— and these continue to be repeated to each side 
alternately. 

8th. The sceptres being in either first position, 
the body is turned to one side, — the left for 
example, — and the sceptres being thrown out in 
the same direction, make each, by a turn of the 
wrist, a circle three times on the outer side of the 
out-stretched arms, (^See Plate XXIV, 1); — 
when completing the third circle, the sceptres are 
thrown higher to the same side, sweeping together 
in a large circle down past the feet, as the body 
turns to the right, and are lastly both thrown over 
the shoulders, {See Plate XXIV, j^^. 2) ; — from 
this position, the sceptres are thrown in front 
which is now towards the opposite side, and the 
same movements are reversed; — and so it pro- 
ceeds alternately to each side. 

N.B. — These exercises are entirely of Indian 
origin^ as every gentleman who has long resided 
in India will aver. Unlike the pretender^ there- 
fore^ who affected to have invented one of them, 
the author claims only the merit of having duly 
appreciated, and first described them to the public, 
as superseding all other exercises for the arms. 
The manner in ivhich they have been received, 
has vindicated his judgment in this respect. 



116 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 

THE BALANCE STEP. 

The object of this is to teach the free move- 
ment of the limbs, preserving at the same time 
perfect squareness of shoulders, with the utmost 
steadiness of body; and no labour should be 
spared to attain this first and most essential object, 
which forms indeed the very foundation of good 
walking. 

The instructor must be careful that a habit is 
not contracted of drooping or throwing back a 
shoulder at these motions, which are intended 
practically to shew the true principles of walking, 
and that steadiness of body is compatible with 
perfect freedom in the limbs. 

WITHOUT GAINING GROUND. 

To ensure precision, the military words of 
command are prefixed. 

Caution. — Balance step without gaining ground , 
commencing with the left foot. 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 



117 



Front. — ^The left foot is gently brought straight 
forward with the toe at the proper angle, the foot 
about three inches from the ground, the left heel 
in line with the toe of the right foot. 

Rear. — When steady, the left foot is brought 
gently back (without a jerk), the left knee a little 
bent, the left toe brought close to the right heel. 
The left foot in this position will not be so flat as 
when in front, as the toe will be a little depressed. 

When steady, the words Front and Rear will 
be given alternately, and repeated three or four 
times. 

To prevent fatigue, the word Halt will be 
given, when the left foot, either advanced, or to 
the rear, will be brought to the right foot. 

The instructor will afterwards cause the balance 
to be made upon the left foot, advancing and 
retiring the right in the same manner. 

GAINING GROUND. 

Front. — On the word Front, the left foot is 
brought smartly to the front as before; the knee 
being straight, the toe turned out a little to the 
left, and remaining about three inches from the 
ground. This posture is continued for a few 



118 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



seconds only in the first instance, till practice 
gives steadiness in the position. 

Forward. — On this word, the left foot is brought 
to the ground, at a convenient distance, while 
the right foot is raised at the same moment, and 
continues extended to the rear. The body 
remains upright, but inclining forward, the head 
erect, and neither turned to the right nor left. 

Two. — On the word Two, the right foot is 
brought forward in a line with the left, the toe a 
little turned out, and the sole quite flat, but 
raised two inches from the ground. 

Front. — On the word Front, the right foot is 
brought forward, and so on. 



WALKING. 

WALKING IN GENERAL. 

Of all exercises, walking is the most simple 
' and easy. The weight of the body rests on one 
foot while the other is advanced ; it is then thrown 
upon the advanced foot, while the other is brought 
forward ; and so on in succession. 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 



119 



In this mode of progression, the slowness and 
equal distribution of motion is such, that many 
muscles are employed in a greater or less 
degree ; each acts in unison with the rest ; and 
the whole remains compact and united. Hence, 
the time of its movements may be quicker or 
slower, without deranging the union of the parts, 
or the equilibrium of the whole. 

It is owing to these circumstances, that walking 
displays so much of the character of the walker, 
— that it is light and gay in women and children, 
steady and grave in men and elderly persons, 
irregular in the nervous and irritable, measured 
in the affected and formal, brisk in the sanguine, 
heavy in the phlegmatic, and proud or humble, 
bold or timid, &c., in strict correspondence with 
individual character. 

The utility of walking exceeds that of all other 
modes of progression. While the able pedestrian 
is independent of stage-coaches and hired horses, 
he alone fully enjoys the scenes through which 
he passes, and is free to dispose of his time as he 
pleases. 

To counterbalance these advantages, greater 
fatigue is doubtless attendant on walking: but 
this fatigue is really the result of previous 
inactivity; for daily exercise, gradually increased. 



120 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



by rendering walking more easy and agreeable^ 
and inducing its more frequent practice, dimi- 
nishes fatigue in such a degree, that very great 
distances may be accomphshed with pleasure, 
instead of painful exertion. 

In relation to health, walking accelerates 
respiration and circulation, increases the tempe- 
rature and cutaneous exhalation, and excites 
appetite and healthful nutrition. Hence, as an 
anonymous writer observes, the true pedestrian, 
after a walk of twenty miles, comes in to break- 
fast with freshness on his countenance, healthy 
blood coursing in every vein, and vigour in every 
limb; while the indolent and inactive man, having 
painfully crept over a mile or two, returns to a 
dinner which he cannot digest. 

A firm, yet easy and graceful walk, however, 
is by no means common. There are few men 
who walk well, if they have not learnt to regu- 
late their motions by the lessons of a master; 
and this instruction is still more necessary for 
ladies. 

Having now, therefore, taken a general view of 
the character and utility of walking, 1 subjoin 
some more particular remarks on the 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 



121 



GENERAL MECHANISM OF WALKING. 

For the purpose of walking, while from the first 
position we advance one leg, the left for instance, 
to the fourth position, we by extending the ankle 
of the right leg, raising it from the heel to the 
point, and by a simultaneous advance of the 
hanch, throw upon the left leg the weight of 
the body, which before pressed equally on both 
legs. This may be termed a half step, seeing it 
is made only from the first position in which the 
feet are close, and not from the fourth, in which 
they are open :* it is in the first whole step that 
the mechanism of walking is more completely 
shown. The right leg is then bent upon the 
thigh, and the thigh upon the pelvis; the limb is 
raised ; the foot quits the ground, and is carried 
forward, at a sufficient height to clear the ground 
without grazing it ; when it has passed the other, 
it is extended on the leg, and the leg upon the 
thigh; by thus lengthening the whole member, 
and without being drawn back, it reaches the 
ground in the fourth position, and at a distance 

♦ The first is the gradus, the second the passns of the 
Komans. 

M 



122 PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



in advance of the other foot, which is more con- 
siderable according to the length of the step ; 
it is there planted so softly as not to jerk or shake 
the body in the slightest degree ; and as soon as 
it becomes firm, the weight of the body is trans- 
ported to the limb on that side, by extending the 
ankle of the left leg, raising it from the heel 
to the point, and by a simultaneous advance of 
that hanch, which now throws upon the right leg 
the weight of the body. This operation is then 
repeated on the other side, and the other foot, 
by a similar mechanism, is brought forward in its 
turn; and so on, throughout the act of walking. 

In all walking, the most important circum- 
stances are — 1st. That the body must incline 
somewhat forward; — 2d. That the movement of 
the leg and thigh must spring from the hanch, 
and be directed straight forward in a free and 
natural manner; — and 3d. That in stepping out 
with the left foot, the right arm makes a slight 
forward movement, while in stepping out with 
the right foot, the left arm advances. 

Walking may be performed in three different 
times — slow, moderate, or quick, which some- 
what modify its action. 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 123 



THE SLOW WALK, OR MARCH. 

In the march, the weight of the body (which 
rests on the heel in standing) is advanced to the 
instep, and the toes are most turned out. This 
being done, one foot, the left for instance, is 
advanced, with the knee straight, and the toe 
inclined to the ground, which, without being 
drawn back, it touches before the heel; in such 
a manner, however, that the sole, toward the 
conclusion of the step, is nearly parallel with the 
ground, which it next touches with its outer 
edge; the right foot is then immediately raised 
from the inner edge of the toe, and similarly 
advanced, inclined, and brought to the ground ; 
and so in succession. — {See Plate XXV, Jig, 
1 and 2). 

Thus, in the march, the toe externally first 
touches, and internally last leaves the ground ; 
and so marked is this tendency, that, in a stage 
step, which is meant to be especially dignified, 
— as the posterior foot acquires an awkward 
flexure when the weight has been thrown on the 
anterior, — in order to correct this, the former is 
for an instant extended, its toe even turned 
backward and outwards, and its tip internally 



124 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



alone rested on the ground, previous to its being 
in its turn advanced. — Thus the toe's first touch- 
ing, and last leaving the ground, is peculiarly 
marked in this form of the march. 

This pace should be practised until it can be 
firmly and gracefully performed. 

It must be observed that the toe's first touch- 
ing and last leaving the ground in the march, 
gives to it a character of elasticity, and of spirit, 
vigour, or gaiety; and that when this is laid 
aside, and the whole sole of the foot is at once 
planted on the ground, it acquires a character of 
sobriety, severity, or gloom, which is equally 
proper to certain occasions. — This observation is 
in a less degree applicable to the following paces. 

THE MODERATE AND THE QUICK PACE. 

These will be best understood by a reference 
to the pace wdiich we have just described ; the 
principal difference between them being as to 
the advance of the weight of the body, the 
turning out of the toes, and the part of the foot 
which first touches and last leaves the ground. 

We shall find, that the times of these two 
paces require a further advance of the weight, 
and suffer successively less and less of turning 



EXERCISES rOR THE LIMBS. 



125 



out the toes, and of this extended touching with 
the toe, and covering the ground with the foot. 

THE MODERATE PACE. 

Here, the weight of the body is advanced from 
the heel to the ball of the foot; the toes are less 
turned out; and it is no longer the toe, but the 
ball of the foot, which first touches and last 
leaves the ground ; its outer edge, or the ball of 
the Uttle toe first breaking the descent of the 
foot; and its inner edge, or the ball of the great 
toe last projecting the weight. — {See Plate 
XXYl,Jig. 1 and 2.) 

Thus, in this step, less of the foot may be said 
actively to cover the ground ; and this adoption 
of nearer and stronger points of support and 
action is essential to the increased quickness and 
exertion of the pace. 

The mechanism of this pace has not been 
sufficiently attended to. People pass from the 
march to the quick pace, they know not how ; 
and hence all the awkwardness and embarrass- 
ment of their walk when their pace becomes 
moderate, and the misery they endure when this 
pace has to be performed by them unaccom- 
panied, up the middle of a long and well-lighted 

M 2 



126 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



room, where the eyes of a brilliant assembly are 
exclusively directed to them. Let those who 
have felt this but attend to what we have here 
said: the motion of the arms and every other 
part depend on it. 

THE QUICK PACE. 

Here, the weight of the body is advanced from 
the heel to the toes ; the toes are least turned 
out ; and still nearer and stronger points of sup- 
port and action are chosen. The outer edge of 
the heel first touches the ground, and the sole of 
the foot projects the weight. 

These are essential to the increased quickness 
of this pace. — {See Plate XXVII,^^. 1 and 2.) 

It is important to remark, as to all these 
paces, that the weight is successively more 
thrown forward, and the toes are successively 
less turned out. In the theatrical form of the 
march, previously alluded to, the toes, as we 
have seen, are, in the posterior foot, though but 
for a moment, even thrown backwards ; in the 
moderate pace, they have an intermediate direc- 
tion ; and in the quick pace, they are thrown 
directly forward.— Plates XXV, XXVI, 
and XXVII.) 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 127 

It is this direction of the toes, and still more 
the nearer and stronger points of support and 
action, namely, the heel and sole of the foot, 
which are essential to the quick pace so univer- 
sally practised, but which, together with the 
greater inclination of the body, being ridicu- 
lously transferred to the moderate pace, make 
unfortunate people look so awkward, as we shall 
now explain. 

The time of the moderate pace is, as it were, 
filled up by the more complicated process of the 
step — by the gradual and easy breaking of the 
descent of the foot on its outer edge or the ball 
of the Uttle toe, by the deliberate positing of the 
foot, by its equally gradual and easy projection 
from its inner edge or the ball of the great toe. — 
The quick pace, if its time be lengthened, has 
no such filhng up: the man stumps at once 
down on his heel, and could rise instantly from 
his sole, but finds that, to fill up his time, he 
must pause an instant; he feels that he should 
do something, and does not know what ; his 
hands suffer the same momentary paralysis as 
his feet ; he gradually becomes confused and 
embarrassed ; deeply sensible of this, he at last 
exhibits it externally; a smile or a titter arises, 
though people do not well know at v/hat ; but, 



128 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



in short, the man has walked like a clown, 
because the mechanism of his step has not filled 
up its time, or answered its purpose. . 



In the walk of ladies, the step ought not in 
general to exceed the length of the foot ; and 
the pace should be neither too slow nor too 
quick, but natural and tranquil, without giving 
the appearance of difficulty in advancing, and 
active, without the appearance of being in a 
hurry. 

Nothing can be more ridiculous than a little 

woman, w^ho takes innumerable minute steps 
with great rapidity, to get on with greater speed, 
except it be a tall woman, who throws out long 
legs as though she would dispute the road with 
the horses. 



I trust that the mechanism and time of the 
three paces, are here, for the first time, simply, 
clearly, and impressively described. I have not 
seen them rightly described elsewhere, which I 
think discreditable to the people whose business 
it is to teach such things. It becomes^ indeed, 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 129 



of importance among certain classes of society, 
and in certain situations; and I should be un- 
worthy of my name, if I neglected it. 

PARTICULAR UTILITY OF WALKING. 

Walking attracts the fluids to the inferior 
members more than to the upper, to which it 
gives little strength. 

It is wrong, however, to assert that this exer- 
cise moves only the inferior parts of the body, 
while all the superior parts remain at rest; and 
that the liquids, to which the first have given a 
trisk impulse, must experience from the others a 
considerable resistance, which renders their course 
little uniform, and their distribution unequal. 

Walking is not an exercise of the lower mem- 
bers only. The pelvis, as we have shown, moyes 
from side to side as well as the body, so as to 
throw the weight upon the limb which is firm on 
the ground. This movement is more decided, 
according to the size of the pelvis. For this 
reason, children, in whom the pelvis is narrower, 
walk better than men; whilst, in females, the 
distance between the thigh bones renders walking 
more difficult, though they take very small steps. 
The arms also move alternately with the legs. 



120 PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 

All these movements follow each other, and 
can, as we know, be repeated for a long time 
without fatigue, because the muscles which are 
exercised are sometimes in repose and sometimes 
in contraction. Still, walking is less a sufficient 
employment of the muscles, than a kind of repose 
and relaxation. Moderate walking, indeed, exer- 
cises the very gentlest influence over all the 
functions. 

Walking on a smooth soft, surface is an exer- 
cise that may be followed without inconvenience, 
and even with advantage after meals. The cir- 
cumstance under v/hich it may be most bene- 
ficial, is in convalescence, or when suffering 
under the fatigue of a forced exercise of the 
intellectual faculties. 

If, however, we walk purely by regimen, the 
walk, not interesting us sufficiently to carry us 
out of ourselves, permits us to think too much 
of the motive which causes us to walk, and which 
consequently becomes a subject of mental con- 
tention, capable of preventing the effect of such 
a remedy. 

There is also this inconvenience in the soli- 
tary walks of persons in feeble health, or of a 
melancholic temperament, that they enable such 
persons to deliver themselves up to those dis- 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 



131 



tempered notions on which they feed ; so that 
the result derived from it, is to return with the 
head and feet fatigued, and to fall into a langour 
worse than that from which escape w^as desired. 

Real labour, in truth, is necessary for mankind; 
and the most advantageous is that which exer- 
cises equally the body and the mind. It is thus 
that walking may become a relaxation as salu- 
tary as agreeable, that the pure air, the cool 
shade, and the sweet perfume of flowers, pour 
efficaciously into the mind, with the forgetfulness 
of past occupations, the necessary powers to sup- 
port new ones.'* 



RUNNING AND LEAPING. 

Owing to the excessive shocks which both of 
these exercises communicate, neither of them are 
congenial to woman. 

In consequence of the size of the pelvis, women 
are obliged to balance the centre of gravity from 
one side to another, in a large space, which 
renders these exercises very inconvenient, and 
which made Rousseau say, " Women are not 
made for running : when they fly, it is that they 



132 PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 

may be caught. Running is not the only thing 
they do awkwardly; but it is the only thing 
they do without grace." 

Leaping might be still more dangerous than 
running, under many circumstances peculiar to 
their sex. 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES OF THE FEET. 
BENDS AND RISINGS IN POSITION. 

It has been already said, that, in all the five 
positions, the hips, knees, and ankles may be 
bent (the knees always outward), without raising 
the heels from the ground, or deranging the 
position of the body. This is a useful exercise, 
as conferring suppleness on all these joints, in- 
creasing the power of their muscles, and giving 
command over the whole of the body. 

Without any support, and without discom- 
posing the proper state of the body and arms, 
all these positions should be sometimes practised 
on the tip-toes. This confers great flexibility 
and strength on the instep in particular. — (^See 
Plate XXVIII, 1). 



EXERCISES FOR THE LIMBS. 133 

An excess of these two exercises, however, 
would be very injurious. 

I 

BATTEMENS IN POSITION. 

Battemens consist of the motions of one leg in 
the air, whilst the other supports the body. 

The frequent practice of the battemens in the 
positions, first with the heel on the ground, and 
afterwards with it raised, exercises the power of 
the extensors of the fixed leg, and of the flexors 
of the moving one, ensures the equilibrium of 
the body, and renders its motions rapid and bril- 
liant. 

Battemens are of three kinds, viz. grands 
battemens, petits battemens, and battemens on 
the instep. 

The grands battemens are performed by de- 
taching the extended leg outward and upward 
as high as the knee from the fifth position, and 
letting it again fall into that position, by crossing 
either behind or before. 

Grands battemens may also be made either 
forwards or backwards; and they are called 
battemens en,avant, when the foot is thrown 
forward and upward into the fourth position, 
{See Plate XXVIII, fg, 2), and battemens en 



134 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



arri^re when the foot is thrown backward and 
upward into that positon. — {See Plate XXVIII, 

Petits battemens, or battemens on the second 
position, are performed in the same way, but in 
raising the foot from the fifth position, instead of 
raising it as high as the knee, we only detach it 
a little from the other leg, until it reach the 
second position, without letting the toe leave the 
ground, and we carry it back into the same posi- 
tion, alternately before and behind. — {See Plate 
XXlX,Jig. I). 

In petits battemens on the instep, the muscles 
of the hip guide the thigh in its openings, and 
its rotation directs the foot, while the knee by 
its flexion, performs the battemens, making the 
lower part of the leg cross either before or behind 
the other leg, which rests on the ground. — {See 
Plate XXIX, fg, 2). 

THE CIRCLES. 

These are performed by each foot, while the 
body rests on the other, aided at first by the sup- 
port of a hand. In doing this, the body remains 
square to the front, and the feet are turned well 
out. 

6 



e:sercises for the limbs. 135 



In the circling limb, the knee, being straight 
as well as turned out, and the toe pointed down- 
ward, the circle is begun backward or forward, 
passes upward as far as convenient, forward or 
backward as far as possible, and then downward, 
so as to make a perfect circle ; and this is to be 
repeated several times with each limb. — {See 
Plate XXIX, Jig. 3). 

To begin the circle from the outside, the pupil 
adopts the same position as that in which she 
commences the petits battemens ; and, supposing 
she rests on the left leg, whilst the right, in the 
second position, is prepared for the movement, 
she makes the latter describe a semicircle back- 
wards, which brings the legs to the first position, 
and she, without pausing, continues the sweep 
till it completes the whole circle, ending at the 
place whence it began. 

The circle from the inside is begun in the same 
position ; but the right leg commences the circle 
forwards, instead of backwards. 

After the pupil has practised the circle on the 
ground, she should exercise herself in performing 
it in the air, holding the leg that supports the 
body, on the toes. 

When she has acquired some facility in this, 
she should practise without holding, which gives 



136 



TARTICULAR EXERCISES. 



uprightness and balance, essential qualities in a 
walker or dancer. 

Nothing more effectually ensures a good balance 
and supples the hip-joint, than the circles. 



It it equally necessary to go through the posi- 
tions, bendings, battemens, and circles, with the 
left foot as with the right. 



PART IIL 
COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



DANCING. 

REVOLUTION IN THAT ART. 

Every body has heard of some repugnance to 
the performance of steps in dancing; and every 
body has seen them evaded. Nobody has yet 
observed that a complete revolution has imper- 
ceptibly taken place in that art — so impercepti- 
bly that every book on the subject yet holds by 
its ancient condition. Books tell us that, in the 
fundamental positions, " the feet are to be turned 
quite laterally^ or directly outward,"* and that 

* " The first position/^ they say, is formed by placing 
the two heels together and throwing the toes back, so that 
the feet form a parallel line." 

N 2 



138 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



" steps should be 2^GTformedv;\i\\ minute neatness, 
and as closely, or in as small a compass, as pos- 
sible Now, most ladies and gentlemen are 
aware that the person who should do this would 
be considered to be not a lady or gentleman, but 
a teaclier of dancing; and what even Gallini says 
of dancing-masters, may be seen in a subsequent 
page. The causes of this revolution, I shall 
explain in my observations on that subject; and, 
as preliminary to that, I shall here show how 
that art has degenerated. 

The original and proper meaning of the word 
dancing, is such a combination of action and 
attitude as may express our ideas, emotions and 
passions. 

Thus dancing, however unscientifically it may at 
present be cultivated, is properly the first of the 
fine arts, or that wliich involves the general and 
actual use of the muscular motions of the body, 
which are only imitated by sculpture and painting. 
Scientifically practised, it is obvious that this art 
would not be inferior in expression to those which 
are merely imitative. 

Under this impression, De Ramsey, author of 
Cyrus's travels, in his plan of education, says, 
To the study of poetry, should be joined that of 
the three arts of imitation. The ancients repre- 



DANCING. 



139 



sented the passions, by gests, colours and sounds. 
Xenophon tells of some wonderful effects of the 
Grecian dances, and how they moved and 
expressed the passions. We have now lost the 
perfection of that art." 

The dancing of the ancients was not a series 
of tricks with the muscles : it spoke as plainly as 
sculpture or painting. Hence the respect in 
which its professors were held, and the language 
of Cicero respecting Roscius.* Every one is 
aware of the great effect which this art produced 
in ancient Rome, where it must have constituted 
a species of Acted Language. It is probable that 
those who practised it there were in possession of 
better principles than those which are now acted 
upon, and it is to be regretted that in modern 
times, the improvement of this art has been entirely 
left to persons unqualified for the task. 

Gallini and others have so well described some 
of the most celebrated national dances, both 
ancient and modern, that I shall here follow 

*'*Quis nostrum tain animo agresti ac duro fuit, ut Roscii 
raorte nuper non commovetur? qui cum esset senex mor- 
tuus, tamen videbatur omnino mori non debuisse. Ergo 
ille corporis motu tantum amorem sibi conciliaret a nobis 
omnibus, &c. V 



140 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



them, with a slight alteration, in a description of 
these. 

The dances of the Greeks were figurative imi- 
tation of actions and manners. Hence Lucian 
requires of a dancer to be a good pantomime, and 
at the same time to be well acquainted with the 
history of the gods, or with mythology. In all 
the festivals of which those deities were the objects, 
their respective praises were sung, and those 
dances were executed, which represented the 
most striking particulars of their history ; as the 
triumph of Bacchus, the nuptials of Vulcan, the 
events celebrated in the festivals of Adonis, the 
loves of Diana and Endymion, the flight of 
Daphne, the judgment of Paris, &c. The gestures, 
steps, movements and airs, expressed these situa- 
tions. 

The Cretan dance, the most ancient of all, has 
been described by Homer on the famous shield 
of Achilles. 

After many other pictures, says he, Vulcan 
represents, with surprising variety a figured dance, 
such as the ingenious Dedalus invented at 
Cnossus, in Crete, for the beautiful Ariadne. 
Young men and maidens, holding one another 
by the hand, dance together : the girls are habited 



DANCING. 



141 



in the richest stuffs, and wear on their heads 
coronets of gold : the young men appear in gar- 
ments of brilliant colours. This troop* dance, 
sometimes in a round, with so much correctness 
and rapidity, that the motion of a wheel cannot 
be more equal and rapid. Now the circle of 
the dance breaks, and opens ; then the youths, 
holding each other by the hand, describe in the 
fiscure an infinite number of turns and windino-s. 

This dance of Dedalus produced, anciently, 
another, which was only a more complex imitation 
of the same subject. 

In the modern Greek dance, the maidens and 
young men, while performing the same steps and 
the same figures, dance, at first separately. 
After this, the two troops join, and mix so as to 
compose but one company of dancers in a round. 
Then it is that a maiden leads the dance, taking 
a man by the hand, between whom there is soon 
displayed a handkerchief or a riband, of which 
each holds an end. The others (and the file or 
row usually is not a short one) pass and repass 
successively under the riband. At first, they go 
rather slowly in a round, after which the conduc- 
tress, having made a number of turnings and 

• Here the poet, from his knowledge of the dance, 
descriptively supplies the want of motion in the sculpture. 



142 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

windings, rolls the circle round her. The art of 
this female dancer is to extricate herself from the 
maze, and to reappear on a sudden at the head of 
the circle, shewing in her hand, with a triumphant 
air, her silken string, just as when she began the 
dance. 

The meaning of the dance is obvious enough ; 
and the description of it becomes still more inter- 
esting, when the history of its institution is known. 

Theseus returning from his expedition into 
Crete, after having delivered the Athenians from 
the heavy tribute imposed upon them by the 
Cretans, himself vanquisher of the Minotaur, and 
possessor of Ariadne, stopped at Delos ; and after 
performing a solemn sacrifice to Venus, and dedi- 
cating to her a statue, which his mistress had 
given him, he danced with the young Athenians 
a dance, which in Plutarch's time was still in use 
among the Delians, and in which the mazy turns 
and windings of the labyrinth were imitated. 

Callimachus, in his hymn on Delos, mentions 
this dance, and says that Theseus, when he 
instituted it, was himself the leader of it. 
Eustachius, on the eighteenth book of the Iliad, 
says that anciently the men and women danced 
separately, and that it was Theseus who first made 
to dance together the young men and maidens 



DANCING. 



143 



whom he had delivered from the labyrinth, in the 
manner that Dedalus had taught them. At 
Cnossus, says Pausanias, is preserved that choral 
dance mentioned in the Iliad of Homer, and 
which Dedalus composed for Ariadne. 

At this very day, then, we see, in the Greek 
dance, Ariadne leading her Theseus. Instead of 
the thread, she has a handkerchief or string in 
her hand, of which her partner holds the other 
end; and, under the string, all the rest of the 
dancers pass to and fro, threading it at pleasure. 
The tune and the dance begin at first with a slow 
measure; and the figure is always circular — this 
is the enclosure. Afterwards, the tune grows 
more sprightly; and the turns and windings 
multiplying form the maze. Ariadne, now at 
the head, now in the rear of the dance, turns 
rapidly, advances, retires, bewilders and loses 
herself in the midst of a numerous crowd of 
dancers, who follow her and describe various 
turns around her : she is in the midst of the maze. 
You would imagine her terribly perplexed how to 
extricate herself, when, on a sudden, you see her 
reappear, with her string in her hand, at the head 
of the dance, which she finishes in the same form 
as she began it. Then it is that one remembers, 
with pleasure, the bewildering mazes of the 



144 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

labyrinth, which are the better figured, in propor- 
tion to the skill of the maiden who leads the 
dance, and prolongs it most with the greatest 
variety of turns, windings and evolutions. 

Frequently, too, the young men and girls, from 
being intermixed, separate to form two dances, 
at once ; that is to say, the male dancers raise 
their arms under which the maidens, passing, and 
holding one another by the hand, dance before 
them ; after which they return as before, and 
make but one row. 

This is plainly the little band of Theseus, form- 
ing the like division. — Here then is the origin of 
this Greek dance. Dedalus composed it at first 
for Ariadne, in imitation of his own famous fabric 
of the labjTinth. Ariadne danced it afterwards 
wnth Theseus, in memory of his happy issue out 
of that maze. The ancient monument has long 
ceased to be in existence ; but the dance to which 
it gave rise is still preserved. 

The Spartans constantly accompanied their 
dances with hymns and songs. Every one knows 
that which they sung for the dance, called 
Trichoria, fi^om its being composed of tlnree 
choirs, the one of children, another of young 
men, and the third of old. The old men opened 
the dance, saying, In times past we were 



DANCING. 



145 



valiant.'^ — We are so at present/' was the 
response of the young. — We shall be still more 
so when our time comes/' replied the chorus of 
the children. 

Thus the art of dancing, confined at present to 
imitate the movements of music, which is itself 
often without any meaning or object of imitation, 
expressed, in those times, not only the actions, 
but the inclinations, the manners, the customs, 
while, at the same time, it formed the body to 
strength, to agility, to dexterity, and conferred 
graces upon it : in short, it comprehended and 
regulated the whole art of gesture, an art now-a- 
days so arbitrary, so uncertain, and so contracted. 

The Greeks not only established academies for 
this exercise, but instituted games at which prizes 
were contended for, by excellence in the art. It 
was practised among their military exercises ; it 
took place at their entertainments, and animated 
their solemn festivals ; even the poets recited and 
sang their compositions while dancing. 

Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Plutarch, Lucian, 
Athenseus, and most of the Greek authors, 
accordingly, treat of dancing with approbation, 
and even with encomia. Anacreon boasts, in his 
old age, that he still retains his passion for 
dancing. xAspasia, by her power of inspiring love, 

o 



146 



COMBINATIOXS OF EXERCISE. 



could make the sage Socrates, though advanced 
in years, suspend the gravity of his philosophy, to 
take a share in the dance. Aristides was not 
withheld by the presence of Plato, from dancing at 
an entertainment of Diony^sius. It was reckoned 
among the merits of Epaminondas, that he had 
a peculiar talent for music and dancing. Scipio 
Africanus, after the example of these great men, 
was not ashamed of learning and practising the 
dance ; nor did his dignity and manliness at all 
suffer thereby in the opinion of the Romans. — But 
if the men valaed themselves on their excelling in 
the art of dancing, to the women it became an 
indispensable accomplishment. 

In modern times, the cultivated dance, which 
is introduced in the pantomime, is a humble 
approach to that of the ancients, and might be 
rendered highly expressive. 

The French ballet is a less respectable imitation, 
because it is mixed up with little, unmeaning, and 
therefore contemptible tricks with the feet, called 
tours de force, arabesques, &c., in which pairs or 
groups of men and women, after adjusting 
themselves, with some trouble, into certain 
extravagant and unnatural attitudes, impudently 
look toward the spectators and evidently wait for 
their applause. Formerly, at our Opera house, 
5 



DANCING. 



147 



silly audiences bestowed this : now their more 
intelligent portion, evidently ashamed of it, 
ventures to hiss : and, I confess, I never witness it 
without wisliing I had a horsewhip to apply to 
the affected, unnatural, and impudent grimacers. 

Castil- Blaze very well ridicules the apphca- 
tion of such silly and idiot mummery to any 
serix)us purpose. On devrait introduire cet 
usage, essentiellement classique, dans nos assem- 
blees leo:islatives. Les ventrus, se levant en 
mesure, prenant des positions pittoresques pour 
exprimer leur vote, arrivant a la tribune par une 
suite de pas de zephir, s'echappant ensuite vers 
les couloirs en valsant a trois temps serres, 
quand I'heure du dine les appelle, ne seraient pas 
mediocrement gais. La danse modere les passions ; 
un moulinet, un branle met tout le monde au 
meme pas. Ce moyen parait excellent pour 
donner une impulsion uniforme a nos deputes. 
Leurs ballets impromptu fourniraient une infinite 
d'episodes agreables, qui rompraient la triste 
langueur, Tennuyeuse monotonie des seances; 
et les journaux politiques cesseraient d'asphyxier 
leurs lecteurs. La chambre des deputes possede 
des partitions d'opera dans sa bibliotheque ; un 
arrangeur aurait bientotfait un choix de morceaux 
analogues aux propositions du jour. La marche 



148 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

cles Tartares de Loddiska me semble admirable 
pour enlever un budget ; son effet est certain^ 

Next to these, are the modern dances to which 
the term National is, with some propriety, 
applied. 

All these are accompanied by music, and 
especially require that observation of cadence, 
which, in modern dances, ensures the conformity 
of the steps of the dancers, with the measure 
marked by the music. 

There are ears insensible to the most simple 
and most striking movements; there are incorrect 
ears; there are others less obtuse, which perceive 
the measure, but cannot seize the minuter delicacies 
of it ; and, lastly, there are some, which follow the 
movements of airs, the least striking, with facility. 

In the dances now spoken of, the steps of a 
person whose ear is incorrect, are something like 
the words of a fool, badly combined. He errs at 
every instant in the execution, and is constantly 
in pursuit of the measure, without being able to 
overtake it. He feels nothing ; everything is 
misconceived ; his dancing possesses no suitable- 
ness ; and the music which- ought to direct his 
movements, regulate his steps, and determine his 
time, only serves to disclose his incapacity. 

Of all these, the Spanish dances, like their 



DANCING, 



149 



language, are those which, in truth of expression, 
approach the nearest to those of antiquity. 

The fandango and bolero appear to be traditions 
of those voluptuous dances, which, amongst 
the ancients, according to historians, gained the 
female dancers of Cadiz so great a celebrity. They 
were doubtless of Berber or Moorish origin. 
The Iberian dancers have still the same charms, 
and their style of dancing still exercises the same 
influence. 

The FAi?DANG0 is the leading dance of the 
Spaniards, and that which stands in highest 
estimation. Their other dances are little more 
than imitations of it, and are looked upon as 
subordinate. 

The Fandango is danced by two persons only, 
and accompanied by castanets, made of walnut- 
wood or of ebony. The music, in the time of |, 
is a rapid movement. The sound of the castanets, 
and the actions of the feet, arms and body, keep 
time with the greatest nicety. 

In this dance, the arms are always expanded, 
and their movements, in whatever direction, are 
always undulating. But the dancers never touch 
each other, not even each other's hands. 

In the steps of the Fandango, it is the lightness, 
the grace, the elasticity, the balance, which are 
remarkable. . o 2 



150 



C0MBl^^ATI01S"S OF EXERCISE. 



This dance describes, with vivacity, the tender 
feeling v/hich a beloved object inspires, and the 
sincerity of the avowal. The eyes, often directed 
towards the feet, glance over every part of the 
body, and testify the pleasure which symmetry of 
form inspires. The female, at the moment when 
her languor announces a speedy defeat, revives 
suddenly, and escapes her victor. The latter 
pursues her, and is pursued in turn. The diffe- 
rent emotions they feel, are visible in their looks, 
gestures and attitudes. In short, the attitudes, 
the agitations of the body, the waverings, are the 
representations of love, of gallantry, of impatience, 
of uncertainty, of vexation, of confusion, of 
despair, of revival, of satisfaction, and finally of 
happiness. It is by these different gradations of 
the passions, that the nature of the Spanish 
dance is characterized; while the more majestic 
movements express those feelings which mark the 
national character. 

The Spaniards are passionately foncl of seeing 
it danced, though very few of them understand 
how to dance it. The moment, however, that the 
appropriate air is played at a ball, every face be- 
comes radiant, every eye brilliant, and even those 
whom age or condition reduces to inactivity, can 
scarcely withstand the charm of the cadence. 



DANCING. 



151 



The Fandango, however, is changed in charac- 
ter according to the places where it is danced. 
The people generally call for it at the theatre ; 
and it is almost always the termination of private 
balls. At these times, it is always decent in 
appearance, and simply indicates, in a vague 
manner, the voluptuous feeling which charac- 
terizes it. But, on other occasions, when the 
spectators are but few and joyous, mirth dis- 
penses with scruples ; its attitudes, and its graceful 
and voluptuous groupings, accompanied by the 
cadences and thrillings of the music, have a 
powerful effect upon every spectator; and its 
effects leave but little doubt of its seductive 
nature, and of the reasons which will always 
cause this dance, in its unqualified forms, to be 
rejected, wherever European modesty and deli- 
cacy are regarded. 

The lower orders in Spain, indeed, accompany 
this dance with gross attitudes; and their extra- 
vagant movements cease only when they are com- 
pletely tired out. 

The Bolero is a dance far more restrained, 
modest and dignified, than the Fandango. — It is 
executed by two persons. — The air is generally in 
the time of | : there are some, however, in the 
time of |, The music is extremely Varied, and 



152 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



full of cadences. The air or melody may be changed; 
but its peculiar rythm must be preserved, together 
with its time and its flourishes, which are called 
also false pauses. 

The steps of the Bolero are performed terre-a- 
terre : they are either sliding, beaten or retreat- 
ing, being always clearly marked. 

Being a descriptive dance, it is composed of 
five parts, namely, — the paseo or promenade, 
which is a kind of introduction; the traversias 
or crossing, which alters the position of the places; 
the latter being done both before and after the 
difFerencias, a measure in which a change of steps 
takes place; then the ^finales ; and lastly, the 
bien parado, a graceful attitude, or grouping of 
the couple who are dancing. 

In the out-of-doors amusements of the Spaniards, 
sometimes at the end of a refresco, a couple 
of dancers advance and perform the Fandango 
or Bolero, to the accompaniment of castanets. 

The Seguidilla, another Spanish dance, is 
formed by eight, like our quadrilles. The four 
couples perform, in passing at each corner, the 
principal parts of the Fandango. This is a 
dance, in which a Spanish w^oman, dressed in 
costume, accompanying the instruments with 
her castanets, and marking the time precisely 



DANCING. 



153 



with her heel, becomes one of the most seductive 
objects that the god of love can make use of, for 
the extension of his empire. 

The original character of these dances, their 
pleasing and varied figure, and their expression 
of tender and agreeable feelings, when duly 
restrained, have always obtained for them a 
marked preference; and, indeed, with respect to 
these peculiar qualities, there are few dances of 
other nations worthy of being compared with them. 
The music also that accompanies them, or rather, 
that inspires them, is of a melody so sweet and 
original, that it finds an instantaneous welcome 
into the heart. The striking features of the 
Spanish girls, moreover, their expressive looks, 
their light figure, which seems formed for the 
dance, conspire to raise dehght in the spectator. 
Finally, nothing can be handsomer in design, or 
more beautiful in its ornaments and variety of 
colours, than the picturesque costume of the 
dancers. 

The Neapolitan Tarantella is, of all modern 
dances, the liveliest, the most diversified ; but, 
like the Siciliana, it possesses much similitude 
to the Fandango. Both are, perhaps, but par- 
ticularly the former, a mixture of Spanish and 
Italian dancing; and must have had their rise 
6 



154 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



on the introduction of the Spanish style into 
Italy. The Tarantella is gay and voluptuous ; 
its steps, attitudes and music, still exhibiting the 
character of those who invented it. 

The Tarantella is said to be so called from the 
music, alternately slow or quick, having some 
resemblance to the motion of the Tarantula, a 
venomous spider of Sicily. It is, however, more 
generally supposed to have derived its name from 
another circumstance with regard to the Taran- 
tula. Those, it is said, who have been bitten 
by it, can escape destruction only by violent 
perspiration, which forces the poison out of the 
body through the pores of the skin; and, it is 
added, as exercise is the principal and^ surest 
method to effect this perspiration, music has 
been found to be the only incentive to the motion 
of the unhappy sufferers : it excites them to leap 
about, until extreme fatigue puts an end to their 
exertions ; they then fall ; and the perspiration 
thus occasioned, seldom fails of effecting a cure. 

The music best adapted to the performance of 
this kind of miracle, is excessively lively : its 
notes and cadences are strongly marked, and of 
the ^ measure. 

Love and pleasure are conspicuous throughout 
this dance ; and each motion, each gesture, is 



DANCING. 



155 



made with the most voluptuous gracefulness. 
The woman tries, by her rapidity and hveUness, 
to excite the love of her partner, who, in his 
turn, endeavours to charm her with his agility, 
elegance, and demonstrations of tenderness. 
The two dancers unite, separate, return, fly 
into each other's arms, again bound away, and, 
in their different gestures, alternately exhibit 
love, coquetry and inconstancy. Sometimes 
they hold each other's hands ; the man kneels 
down whilst the woman dances round him ; 
again he rises; again she starts from him, and 
he eagerly pursues. The eye of the spectator 
is incessantly diverted with the variety of senti- 
ments which they express ; nor can any thing be 
more pleasing than their picturesque groups and 
evolutions. 

The Minuet is a French dance, originally 
from Poitou ; and there it is still common, as well 
as in the hamlets of Sologne. This dance was at 
first lively, the movement quick, and characterized 
by an elegant simplicity. It was introduced at 
court, and it then lost its primitive charms; its 
vivacity and sprightliness were replaced by 
slowness and graveness. The Minuet, however, 
became the fashionable dance ; and this favour 
it owed to the simplicity of its composition, and 



156 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

the facility with which it could be executed. 
The celebrated dancer Pecour, contributed also 
much to bring it into vogue : at court it had 
become stiff ; he introduced into it softness and 
grace, and substituted for the figure S, which was 
its original form, the figure Z, in which the steps 
being counted, obliged the dancers to observe a 
strict regularity. 

The measure of the Minuet is in triple time, 
marked by 3, | , or ^. 

Throughout the Minuet, a lady should have 
the head upright and well placed, and the 
shoulders back. 

The character of this dance is affected and 
destitute of meaning. 

The being well versed, however, in this dance, 
as a mere exercise, contributes greatly to form 
the gait and address. It has a sensible influence 
in the fashioning and polishing the air and 
deportment on all occasions of appearance in life. 

But the whole of French dancing is too 
French, — too vain and frivolous in its character, 
— too offensively marked by silly affectation and 
ridiculous tricks, which it mistakes for expression. 
This is particularly remarkable in those positions 
called arabesques, which they Frenchify from 
antique basso-relievos, from the fragments of 



DANCING. 157 

Greek painting, and from the paintings in fresco 
at the Vatican ; and in those groups called by the 
same name, and formed of male and female 
dancers, interlaced in a thousand different man- 
ners, by means of garlands, crowns, hoops 
entwined with flowers, &:c. 

In the higher species of dancing, should always 
be remembered the advice of Leonardo da Vinci, 
Siano le attitudini degli uomini coti le loro 
membra in tal modo disposte, che con quelle si 
dimostri I'intenzione del loro animo.'* Or, as it 
is more vainly and glitteringly expressed by the 
French poet : — 

Que la dance toujours, ou gaie ou serieuse, 
Soit de nos sentimens Timage ingenieuse ; 
Que tous ses mouvemens du coeur soient les echos, 
Ses gestes un langage, et ses pas des tableaux !" 

Of the common or social dances, dances of 
exercise and amusement, not of expression, the 
most beautiful is the Waltz. 

Germany is the parent of the Waltz. It reigns 
paramount from one extremity of that vast country 
to the other ; and it is a dance peculiarly beloved 
by the nation. 

The Waltz is composed of two steps, each of 
three beats to a bar. Each of these two steps 

p 



158 



COMBINATIONS- OF EXERCISE. 



performs the half-turn of the Waltz, which lasts 
during one bar. The two steps united form the 
w^hole turn, and, therefore, the whole Waltz, 
executed in two bars. These steps differ one 
from the other, in such a manner, however, as 
to fit, one into the other, during their performance, 
so as to prevent the feet of one dancer from 
touching and endangering those of the other : 
thus while the gentleman performs one step, the 
lady dances the other, so that both are executed 
with uninterrupted exactness. 

The gentleman should support the lady by the 
right hand above the waist, or, if waltzing be 
difficult to her, he should also support her right 
hand by his left. The arms should be kept in a 
rounded position, which is the most graceful, 
preserving them without motion ; and, in this 
position, one person should keep as far from the 
other, or make as large a circle, as the arms will 
permit, consistently with the rapidity of the 
music, so that neither may be incommoded. 

This dance, simple, like all the primitive 
dances, possesses beauties peculiar to itself, 
which are, in a manner, characteristic of the 
tone of German society in general, and of the 
intimate and innocent relations which exist 
between young persons of the two sexes. 



DANCING. 



159 



But it is with national dances, as with the 
fruits of various climates transplanted to other 
soils, they almost invariably lose the qualities 
which are peculiar to them. To be convinced of 
the degree of decency that the Waltz can pre- 
serve, it must be seen as it is danced in Germany 
and by Germans. Everywhere else, except in 
the countries bordering on Germany, any expres- 
sion which this dance possesses, seems to be 
totally unknown. 

The Scottish Reel, another dance of exercise 
and amusement, and not of expression, which is 
again becoming fashionable, is, when well per- 
formed, a far more beautiful dance than the 
French quadrille, which is borrowed from it. 

The English Country-dance is the more 
immediate origin of the quadrille, and, as such, a 
source of great vexation to our opposite neigh- 
bours, whose self-love and vanity are deeply 
wounded by the circumstance.* 

• As the conduct of Frencli writers on tbis subject is 
consistent with their national character, and a curious 
illustration of it, I subjoin the observations of one of their 
best writers, with remarks, in this foot note. 

Mais 11 manquait encore aux Francais une danse plus 
analogue a leur caractere que celles qui jusqu' alors avaient 
ete en usage 5 une danse qui fut un heureux intermediaire 



160 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



The circumstance, however, is quite unworthy 
of their regret. None of these dances can now 
be called dances at all. They now, at least, differ 

entre la danse champetre et la sultation heroique, digne du 
theatre et de la cour ; une danse enfin, qui divertit a la fois 
les citadins et les habitans des campagnes. 

estfacheuipour notre vanite nation ale que nous soyons 
redevables aux ttrangers de cette composition charmante, qui 
a pris a la danse noble sa grace et sa decense, a la danse 
villageoise sa gaiete et sa liberte. La contre-danse est 
d'origine Anglaise. ' Countrj-dance' signifie en Anglais 
dame des champs, et elle est ainsi nominee, parce qu' elle 
6tait familiere aux habitans des campagnes.^* 

This was too humiliating a matter, not to induce the 
usual resource of French self-love and vanity — to try a 
claim upon it ! 

*^ Nous pourrions, il est vrai, revendiquer les chassts, les 
traverses, empruntes a notre menuet ainsi que les balances et 
les changemens de mains. Peut-etre meme la contre- 
danse nest elle pas gu'une ancienne danse Frangaise, intro- 
duite en Angleterre au temps de la conguete des Normunds ill 
et a laquelle on aurait ajoute la chalne qui porte encore 
r^pithete Anglaise, et a juste titre, car elle seule forme 
la base des danses Ecossaises." 

Peut-etre, when the Normans conquered France, thej 
carried thither the country-dance, so that it was Norman, 
not French ! — But the would-be thief is ashamed of these 
pretensions : and is fain to console himself with notre 
vanite nationale alone ! 



DANCING. 



161 



utterly from all that, for centuries past, has been 
called by that name. A dance has hitherto 
implied a figure and steps. Those that are now 

Quoi qu'il en soit la contre-dance importee chez les 
Franfais fut, comme ces enfans heureusement nes, qui 
malgre 1' incertitude de leur origine, illustrent la fa- 
niille ou le pajs qui les accueille. Elle sut se plier 
sans effort aux moeurs, aux usages de sa patrie adoptive, 
elle s'impregna, si Ton peut dire, de son esprit national, et 
ce melange des deux sexes y sa gaiete, sa poUtesse surtout, 
devinrent your Vobservateur attentif Vembleme de Vurhanitt 
Frangaise." 

*^ Telle est I'intention la plus simple, de nos contre-danses. 
Etres presentent le caractere d'urbanite, de politesse exquise 
qui distingue les Fran9ois ; et en meme temps cette legere 
coquetterie, qui rend la femme plus aimable, qui s^unit 
meme a ses devoirs, et n'ote rien a la douce securite de 
I'amant prefere. La danseuse la plus folatre a beau s eloi- 
gner, figurer avec d'autres couples, changer meme de cava- 
lier, elle revient toujours a Tobjet de son premier choix. 

Qu'on nous pardonne notre predilection pour une danse 
qui fait Vdme de nos fetes, et que nous pouvons appeler nationale. 
Facile pour nous seuls, elle est pleine de dijficultts pour les 
ttrangers; et pourtant son titre de Fran9aise lui a nitrite la 
faveur d'etre admise dans toutes leurs reunions, Notre langue, 
nos gouts, nos modes et notre danse, sont en usage dans les 
cours le§ plus elegantes, et les plus policees. Ce triomphe, 
tout futile qu'il paraisse, a droit de nous flatter : la gloire 
acquise par les arts, immortalise comme celle des armes, et 
ne coute de larmes a personne'^ ! ! ! 

p 2 



162 COMBINATION OF EXERCISE. 

most approved are such as have least of figure 
and most of rest and of opportunity for conver- 
sation ; and instead of steps ^'performed with 
minute neatness^^ no steps are performed at all ! 
Thus the term dance is a mere apology for the 
assemblage and agreeable intercourse of young 
people, with as little as possible even of the form 
of dancing. 

CAUSE OF THAT REVOLUTION. 

How dancing has degenerated, the reader has 
now seen. Its cause, which has of course still 
more escaped notice than the revolution itself, 
must now be explained. It will be found in the 
entire want of meaning or expression, and the 
consequently absurd difficulty of French figures 
and steps. And it is remarkable that the future 
consequences of this were long ago foreseen by 
Gallini and Noverre — the only two dancing-mas- 
ters the whole of whose brains did not lie in their 
heels, or rather who had not every rational idea 
jolted out of them by entrechats and pirouettes. 

Gallini says, 'Mt is doing a great injustice to 
dancing, to place its excellence in capers, in 
brilliant motions of the legs, or in the execution 
of difficult steps f ivithout meaning or significance j 



DANCING. 



163 



which require little more than strength and 
agility/' 

Noverre says, " Certain it is that the difficulty 
of breathing produced by so toilsome a labour 
lessens the power of the dancer ; that entrechats 
and cabrioles destroy all elegance in dancing, 
and that it is morally impossible to infuse mind, 
truth and expression into the movements, when 
the body is constantly shaken by violent and 
repeated shocks, and the mind is occupied solely 
in endeavourino; to avoid accidents and falls 
which are every instant likely to occur. 

''All complicated steps must be sacrificed in 
order to hasten the progress of the art and make 
it approach nearer to truth. What may be lost 
on the part of the legs, will be gained by the 
arms : the more simple the steps, the easier it 
will be to give them expression and grace. 
Taste always avoids difficulties : it is never 
associated with them : artists may reserve them 
for study, but should always avoid them in 
execution ; they are always displeasing to the 
public, and but moderately rehshed even by 
those who can appreciate them. 

" As long as taste is sacrificed to difficulties, 
and reason left out of the question, as long as 
dancing is made to consist in tricks of strength 



164 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



and vaulting, an agreeable amusement will be 
turned into a debasing trade, and dancing^ far 
from progressing, will degenerate, and sink into 
the obscurity , I may say the neglect, with which 
it was regarded not a century hack,'^ 

This cause was enough to ensure the downfal 
of French dancing ; but other things contributed 
to its neglect and discredit in England. 

The English people are not naturally dancers. 
They have little or no calves to their legs. In 
connection with this subject,'' says Mr. Shaw, 

the curious difference between the foot and 
leg of an Irish hay-maker, and that of an Eng- 
lish peasant may be noted. The effects produced 
by the heavy unyielding shoe, and the tight 

• Pour hater les progres de notre art et le rapprocher 
de la Terite, il faut faire un sacrifice de tous les pas trop 
compliques. . . Plus les pas seront simples, et plus il sera 
facile de leur associer de I'expression et des graces. Le 
gout fuit toujours les difficultes, il ne se trouve jamais arec 
elles. . . Elles ne plaisent point au public; elles ne font 
meme qu'un plaisir mediocre a ceux qui en sent le prix. 

Tant que Ton sacrifiera le gout aux difficultes, que I'on 
ne raisonnera pas, que Ton fera consister la danse en tours 
de force, en voltige, I'on fera un metier vil d'un art agre- 
able, la danse, loin de faire des progres, degen^rera, et 
rentrera dans I'obscurite, et j'ose dire dans le mepris on 
elle etait il ny a joas un siecle.^' 



4 



DANCING. 



165 



leather gaiters which the Enghshman wears, are 
very evident in the shape of his leg, for he has 
scarcely any calf, and when he runs, he drags 
his leg after him as if it were a lifeless mass 
attached to his thigh; while the Irishman, being 
seldom encumbered with shoes, has strong and 
well-formed feet and legs, and, in running, 
bounds or springs from the toes/^ The small- 
ness, however, of the English calf has nothing 
to do with shoes and gaiters : it may be found 
in all ranks of the Saxon or dominant popula- 
tion of England, and there is therefore univer- 
sally less aptitude in the use of the limbs. 

Again, the English are upon the whole a grave 
people, and no admirers of trifling and unmean- 
ing tricks, especially when thus attended with 
labour and difficulty. 

Hence this revolution in dancing. Hence the 
fact that the only qualities requisite for a female 
dancer in the present day are a correct ear, an 
elegant walk and graceful demeanour, and the 
utter eschewing not only of all ^ie^^ performed 
with minute neatness^'' but of all steps of every 
description. She should glide along the floor 
without stiffness, mark the measure without 
trouble, and be careful not to exhibit the slightest 
affectation. And if, as Bayle says, the woman 



166 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



of whom we speak the least, is esteemed the 
most/' the lady who renders herself least conspi- 
cuous in dancing is the lady who dances the best. 

I have now only to point out the management 
of the feet, the arms, the body, &c. which, if 
not the best adapted to these purposes, because it 
is in some instances applicable chiefly to the higher 
dancing, is yet an excellent preparatory for the 
more subdued style of dancing. 

OF THE THIGHS, LEGS, AND FEET. 

Dancers ought to stand with the feet more or 
less crossed. 

In all the movements performed by the thigh 
and leg, angles should be avoided; and the 
movements, extensions, and roundings of the leg 
should describe circles. They cannot, however, 
do so, unless by the aid of the hip, which alone 
possesses the faculty of moving and turning in 
every direction. 

The hip orders and directs the position of all 
the parts which are subordinate to it, by its move- 
ment of rotation ; and the knee, leg and foot 
are compelled to go with it in whatever direction 
it moves. 

To be perfectly out, therefore, the limb must not 
be turned partially, but from the hip to the foot. 



DANCING. 



167 



By means, then, of ease and power about the 
hip-joints, the thighs will move w^ith freedom, 
the knees turn outwards, and all the openings of 
the legs be rendered easy and graceful. 

To turn the thigh out requires moderate but 
continued exercise. The circles of the limbs 
inward or outward, and the grands battemens 
tendus from the hip are the only exercises neces- 
sary for this purpose. They insensibly produce 
freedom of motion. 

The knees also should be turned outward, and 
rendered pliant. But as the movement of the 
hip is a guide to that of the knee, it is impos- 
sible for the latter to move unless the hip acts 
first. 

The knees, in fact, have but two movements, 
that of flexion and that of extension : the one 
regulates the motion of the leg backwards ; and 
the other, its movement forwards. 

The foot, by means of the muscles which 
direct it, can turn out without the assistance of 
the hip; but this position is then constrained 
and defective, because it contrasts ridiculously 
with the position of the upper parts. 

The instep has two motions, namely, flexion 
and extension, which are raising and lowering 
the point of the foot. 



168 



COxMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE, 



The latter movement, of extension or lowering, 

is most fatiguing, because it supports the whole 
weight of the body in equilibrium. In taking a 
leap, the instep by its strength raises the body 
up ; and, in alighting, it again comes upon the 
toes, which gives the appearance of great 
lightness. 

It is important to acquire the habit of bending 
the instep precisely in proportion as the foot 
quits the ground. — By practice, this part habi- 
tually curves upward as the foot rises from the 
floor, and, by its strong and rapid movement, 
ensures the fall upon the toes. 

The flexion and extension of the instep is 
much more prompt and sudden than the flexion 
and extension of the other articulations. Great 
activity about the instep, therefore, renders 
dancing peculiarly light and brilliant. 

One of the ankles must not be suffered to be 
habitually higher than the other : this would be 
a very serious defect. 

The smoothness and softness of dancing, 
depend in a great degree on a proportionate 
flexion of the knees, but the instep must contri- 
bute, by its elasticity, to the elegance of the 
movement, and the loins must balance the frame, 
which the spring of the instep raises or lets 
down ; the whole being in perfect harmony. 



DANCING. 



169 



It is scarcely necessary to caution any lady 
against lifting the feet much, flinging them 
about, or stamping them on the floor. Graceful 
dancing consists in gliding, not in jumping. 

On the other hand, the lady must not walk 
languidly and carelessly, as if she had no interest 
in the dance. 

In relation to peculiarity of form, it may be 
observed that, if the bust is very long, the legs 
may be raised a little higher than common rules 
prescribe ; and if very short, may be kept a little 
lower than the usual height. By this means, 
the peculiar construction of the body is less 
apparent. 

Each succeeding movement of the feet must 
be well connected with the other, and ail must 
be executed with an easy elegance. 

OF THE ARMS AND HANDS. 

In speaking of these parts, I began with the 
feet, in conformity with custom; but the posi- 
tion and motion of the arms are more important 
than those of the legs, in all that regards grace- 
ful motion. 

The arms ought to be used as much as is con- 
sistent with such motion, in order that they may 

Q 



170 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



be developed equally with the lower parts of the 
body, and that the figure may be thus highly 
improved; for nothing can improve it more. 

By professional dancers, the position, opposi- 
tion and carriage of the arms, are reckoned the 
three most difficult things in dancing. 

The arms like the legs have three movements, 
namely, the movement of the wrist, of the elbow, 
and of the shoulder ; and these movements must 
accord with those of the legs. 

The movements of the shoulders are not very 
conspicuous. When the arms are extended, they 
are a little lower than the hips, without bending 
either the wrist or elbow, and they are replaced 
at the height whence they were let down, solely 
by the movement of the shoulder. They must 
never be unnaturally raised. 

The elbows have their movement upwards and 
downwards ; and in bending, the wrists accom- 
pany them, which gives a curve to the arms and 
prevents their appearing stiff. 

Although the movements of the wrist do not 
seem difficult, they are still deserving of attention, 
in as much as they take place at the extremity 
of the arms, and as much beauty is the result of 
these movements of the extremities when the 
arms are managed with ease. 



DANCING. 



171 



That the arms may have a good effect and may 
contrast gracefully, they must be somewhat in front 
of the body and exactly rounded : if they describe 
angles, they are faulty. For the arm to be per- 
fectly rounded, it must describe nearly a quarter 
of a circle. 

The rounding and the various movements of 
the arms depend upon the play of the shoulder, 
of the arm, fore-arm and hand. 

If, from the position of the arm at the height 
of the shoulder, it is required to move the arm 
forward, and to round it softly, the shoulder- 
blade, which, as it is attached only by muscles, 
possesses great mobility, co-operates with the 
articulation of the arm and that of the fore-arm 
in the execution of this motion, in the formation 
of which the movements of pronation and supi- 
nation of the fore-arm concur, as well as the 
flexion of the wrist, which, by softening the 
angles, renders them less projecting, while the 
fingers are grouped and present a slight turn to 
correspond with the contour of the arms.* 

If a person be of short stature, it will be 
necessary to raise the arms rather high, for the 

* A frivolous affected turn of the wrist, however, is no 
grace. 



172 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

purpose of relieving the figure, and rendering it 
more agreeable. If the person be tall, the arms 
should not be raised above the hips; which will 
in some measure diminish the disproportion, and 
give the agreeable appearance which would other- 
wise be unattainable. If the person be of the 
usual stature, the arms should be kept at the 
height of the pit of the stomach. 

In regard to the attitude of the arms when thus 
free, there was quoted, in the first edition, what 
appeared to be an excellent article in a compila- 
tion on this, and a variety of other topics, and I 
observed that I was indebted to that collection 
for several observations. In doing so, as already 
stated, I trusted to professional assistance — igno- 
rant how worthless such assistance is. I soon 
after found that such quotation w^as not only 
untrue in statement, but borrowed, by the work 
quoted, from foreign works. In this edition I 
have, therefore, trusted to no one, as also already 
stated, but have taken this article on dancing, 
like all the rest, into my own hands, and reformed 
it entirely. 

The work then quoted, says, Of all the 
movements made in dancing, the opposition or 
contrast of the arms with the feet is the most 
natural to us : to this, however, but little atten- 



DANCING. 



173 



tion is in general paid. If any person be observed, 
when in the act of walking, it will be found, that 
when the right foot is put forward, the left arm 
follows, and vice versa : this is at once natural 
and graceful ; and a similar rule should, in all 
cases, be followed in dancing. The arms should 
advance or recede in a natural series of opposi- 
tions to the direction of the feet in the execution 
of the various steps; their movements, in per- 
forming these contrasts, must not be sudden or 
exaggerated, but so easy as to be almost imper- 
ceptible." 

The original of this statement exists in the 
French Encyclopedic, as follows: — Of all the 
movements that take place in dancing, the most 
natural, and that to which the least attention is 
paid, is the opposition or contrast of the arm 
with the foot. Observe, for example, different 
persons walking, you will perceive that when 
they step out with the right foot, the left arm is 
naturally opposed to it ; and this appears to me 
to be an unchanging rule.^ Skilful dancers ma- 
nage their arms according to this very rule/'* 

* " De tous les movemens qui se font en dansant, c'est 
I'opposition ou contraste du bras au pied, qui nous est la 
plus naturelle, el a laquelie on fait le moius d'attention. 

Q 2 



174 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



Of this principle, I shall now only say, that, 
though borrowed from the modern academy of 
painting, it is altogether false, as I shall show in 
the following article on Gesture. 

One of the most delicate and difficult points 
of the art of dancing is, certainly, the manage- 
ment and display of the arms. 

Noverre observes, that It is a general rule 
as regards the feet in turning, that the facility 
of doing so must be obtained by means of the 
arm on that side to which you wish to turn, 
because by its movement it compels the body to 
turn to the side to which it is extended.'' 
Here then it is not the opposite arm and leg, 
as in mere progression. 

" With respect to the steps made backwards, 
the rule is the same as that of other steps made 
in the same way, namely, the same arm and 
the same foot.''* 

The carriage of the arms must be soft and 

Par exemple, regardez marcher differentes personnes, vous 
verrez que lorsqu'ils portent le pied droit en avant, ce sera 
le bras gauche qui s'opposera naturellement ; ce qui me 
paroit etre une regie certaine. C'est sur cette meme regie 
que les habiles danseurs ont conduit ieur bras. 

* " Une regie generale est que pour les pas en tournant, 
il faut que ce soil le bras du cote que vous voulez tourner 



DANCING. 



175 



easy. They must make no extravagant move- 
ment, nor must the least stiffness be allowed to 
creep into their motions. Care must also be 
taken that they are not jerked by the action of 
the legs, a fault sufficient to degrade a dancer, 
whatever perfection she may possess in other 
respects. 

Nothino; in dancino; is more essential than the 
graceful management of the arms. 

It belongs alone to the higher dancing, now 
degraded or lost, to speak of adapting the motion 
of the arms to the character of the dance. 

In famihar dancing, attention must be particu- 
larly paid to giving the hand in a proper manner; 
to the avoiding of affectation in doing so ; to 
keeping the united hands at a height suited to 
botli parties; and to shunning the slightest grasp- 
ing, detention, or weighing upon the hands of 
another. 

quivous en donne la facilite, parce que par son mouvement 
il oblige le corps a se tourner du cote ou il s'etend. 

A regard de ceux qui se font en arriere, c'est la meme 
regie que celle des autres pas qui sV font ainsi, savoir, le 
meme bras, et le meme pied." 



176 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



OF THE BUST. 

The shoulders must be drawn down, the chest 
brought forward, and the bosom slightly pro- 
jected; for this confers beauty on the dancer's 
attitude. The waist must be held in, and the 
chest be sustained firmly upon the loins; for no 
person can ever become an excellent dancer, even 
if she possesses the qualities essential to perfec- 
tion in the art, unless she is firm upon the loins. 
The upper part of the body must be reclined 
upon the hips, and the latter, as it were, ex- 
panded, in order to facilitate the motions of the 
legs. The w^hole body, however, must be w^ell 
drawn up, and especially the head. 

By these means, the figure at once assumes a 
fine form, and that firmness which is necessary to 
prevent its participating in the movements of the 
limbs. To dance well, the body must be firm, 
tranquil, and uninfluenced by the movements of 
the legs ; for if it follows the action of the feet, it 
is twisted into as many contortions as there are 
different movements of the feet ; the execution is 
then void of balance, repose, harmony, &c.; aiid 
finally it is deprived of dignity and grace, quali- 
ties w^ithout which the dance can never please. 



DANCING. 



177 



AH, however, that regards the position of the 
figure, must be done without losing an easy erect 
position. 

The dancer must acquire uprightness by means 
of a proper balance ; never letting the body 
depart from the perpendicular line that should 
fall from the pit between the collar-bones, through 
the ankles. If the dancer moves one leg for- 
wards, this pit naturally goes back out of its 
perpendicularity on that foot ; if backwards, it is 
thrown before ; and thus it changes its place with 
every variation of position. 

In certain attitudes, however, which profes- 
sional dancers momentarily throw themselves into 
as they spring from the ground, and also in 
inclined arabesques, the central line of gravity is 
necessarily departed from, for an instant. It 
must incline forwards or backwards, according 
to the position adopted. 

In the motions of the feet, the body must be 
firm and unshaken, yet perfectly pliant; its 
motions must be easy and always in accordance 
with those of the legs; and it must be charac- 
terized by a certain abandon, without losing the 
beauty of its position. 

For those ladies who are round shouldered, or 
carry their heads too much forward, it is recom- 



178 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



mended to walk an hour, or more, every day, 
with a book balanced on the head, without any 
assistance from the hands. The lower orders of 
Egyptian women, we are told, are remarkable for 
walking majestically and gracefully, chiefly in 
consequence of their frequently going down to 
the Nile, to bring up heavy burdens of water 
upon their heads. 

OF THE HEAD. 

The head, though thrown slightly backward in 
general, and, though nearly straight in the lateral 
direction, must never be fixed, but must incline 
a little to the right or to the left, whether the 
eyes are cast upwards, downwards, or straight 
forwards. 

The positions of the head, its contrast with the 
bust, and its oppositions, undoubtedly produce the 
most striking effect in dancing. The head gives 
effect to all the attitudes, elegance to all the 
positions, and life and animation to all the move- 
ments of the body. If it be not gracefully ma- 
naged and tastefully contrasted, every thing is 
lifeless ; and even if the execution be in other 
respects perfect, it will appear clumsy, mecha- 
nical and spiritless, unless the head by its dif 
ferent positions should help to embellish it. 



DANCING, 



179 



While the head, in some measure counter- 
balancing the figure, plays on the shoulders; it 
must incline imperceptibly, by a continued grace- 
ful motion, in accordance with the music and 
the style of the dance. 

The face must turn laterally in harmony with 
the other motions ; the look must be neither cast 
down, fixed, nor wandering, but upon the 
partner, without appearing scrupulously to follow 
him; and the expression should be animated, 
cheerful or gay. 

OF THE WHOLE FIGURE. 

Expression, rapidity, hghtness, pliability, ease, 
harmony, smoothness or softness, elegance, and 
grace, are essential in a good dancer. 

All the movements should be conformable to 
the slight or modified expression required. 

Rapidity is very pleasing; hghtness, still more 
so. The former imparts brilliancy to the per- 
formance; the latter confers an aerial appearance 
that charms the spectator. 

Pliability and a graceful abandon are still 
higher qualities in a dancer. 

The keeping every part of the body, during its 



180 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE* 



motions, in harmony with the rest, is a higher 
quahty still. 

Smoothness and softness in the execution of 
the dance, ought especially to be aimed at by 
ladies. Tliey thus also shew that the exercise is 
.natural to them, and that they have overcome 
the greatest difficulty, namely, the concealment 
of art. 

One of the highest qualities is to display all the 
natural elegance that fancy can inspire in the 
carriage of the body, the action of the limbs, and 
the assumption of every attitude. 

The very highest quality is to diffuse over the 
whole execution an air of natural gracefulness. 

No affectation must intermingle with the 
dance, but every attitude be natural and elegant. 

"Tliere is a vice in dancing," says Gallini, 

against which, pupils cannot be too carefully 
guarded : it is that of affectation. It is essen- 
tially different from that desire of pleasing, which 
is so natural and so consistent even with the 
greatest modesty, in this, that it always builds on 
some falsity, mistaken for a means of pleasing, 
though nothing can more surely defeat that in- 
tention. There is not an axiom more true than 
that the graces are incompatible with affectation. 



DANCING. 



181 



They vanish at the first appearance of it ; and the 
curse of affectation is, that it never fails to let 
itself be seen, and wherever it is seen, it is sure 
to offend, and to frustrate its own design. 

*^The simplicity of nature is the great fountain 
of all the graces; from which they flow spon- 
taneously, when unchecked by affectation, which 
at once poisons and dries them up. 

^* Nature does not refuse cultivation, but she 
will not bear being forced. The great art of the 
dancing-master is not to give graces, for that 
is impossible, but to call forth into a nobly 
modest display those latent ones in his scholars, 
which may have been buried for want of oppor- 
tunities or of education, to break forth in their 
native lustre, or which have been spoiled or per- 
verted, by wrong instruction, or by bad models 
of imitation. 

"But how shall those masters guard a scholar 
sufficiently against affectation, who are them- 
selves notoriously infected with it? Nay, this is so 
common to them, that it is even the foundation 
of a proverbial remark, that ' no gentleman can 
be said to dance well who dances like a dancing- 
master.' Those false refinements, that finical, 
affected air, so justly reproached to the generality 
of teachers, a master should correct in himself, 



182 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

before he can well give lessons for avoiding them 
to his pupils. And, in truth, they are but 
wretched substitutes to the true grounds and 
principles of the art, in which nothing is more 
strongly inculcated, than the total neglect of 
them, and the reliance on the engaging and noble 
simplicity of nature. 

" It is then no paradox to say, that the more 
deep you are in the art, the less will it stifle 
nature. On the contrary, it will, in the noble 
assurance, which a competent skill is sure to 
bring with it, give to the natural graces a greater 
freedom and ease of display. Imperfection of 
theory and practice cramps the faculties; and 
gives either an unpleasing faulteringness to the 
air, steps and gestures, or wrong execution." 

PECULIAR MANNER. 

Ladies must dance in a manner very different 
from gentlemen. They must delight by terre-a- 
terre movements of the feet, by lithesome and 
graceful motions, and by a modest and gentle 
abandon in all their attitudes. 

The feet of women ought to be raised, from the 
ground, but very little above the method of the 
second position. 



DANCING. 



183 



The manner peculiar to each individual should 
be in harmony with the style of her beauty. 

If the features of a lady breathe gaiety and 
vivacity, if her shape be pretty, her dancing 
may be more animated, and she need not be 
afraid of using a style almost brilliant. 

If, on the contrary, a lady is of elevated 
stature and noble appearance, she must dance 
with calm elegance, or graceful dignity: slow 
movements will suit the style of her dancing. 
She must be careful, however, not to degenerate 
into stiffness, or into a contemptuous and affected 
negligence, like many dancers who, to give them- 
selves an elegant and majestic air, merely drag 
themselves along. 

Ladies w^o are neither very tall nor very 
short, and are endowed with requisite ability, 
may exert themselves, and may excel in every 
kind of dance. 

CONTINUANCE. 

Every lady should desist from dancing, the 
moment she feels any difficulty of breathing; 
for oppression and overheating render the most 
beautiful dancer an object of ridicule or of pity 
for the time. 



184 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

It is not, however, only this momentary 
fatigue that should be avoided, but also lasting 
fatigue. When its gradual approach is felt, 
dancing should be left off; for it no longer 
affords either charm or pleasure. The steps and 
attitudes lose that easy elegance, that natural 
grace which bestow upon dancers the most enchan- 
ting appearance. The dance is nothing" without 
grace: leave off before gracefulness leaves you. 

GENERAL UTILITY OF DANCING. 

Dancing embraces at the same time walking 
and other movements ; but it does not ordinarily 
enter into our systems of Gymnastics or Callis- 
thenics, because it is taught by partiqjilar masters, 
and with a different intention. The ancients, 
however, who made all the pleasures of sense 
subservient to the benefit of the body, made the 
dance a part of their gymnastic exercises. 

All active exercises are more suitable to ladies 
in proportion as they require less power than light- 
ness and grace. On this account, the dance, 
beyond doubt, is, of all exercises, the most 
suitable to females. 

Dancing contributes greatly to improve the 
figure. When habitually practised, it increases 



DANCING. 



185 



the strength, the suppleness and the agiUty of 
the body. The shoulders and arms then fall 
further back; the limbs become stronger and 
more supple ; the feet turn more outward ; and 
the walk assumes a particular character of firm- 
ness and lightness. 

Dancing also renders the deportment more 
easy and agreeable, and the motions more free 
and graceful. Those, indeed, who learn to dance 
when very young, acquire an ease of motion 
that can be gained in no other way ; aud if a 
habit of moving gracefully is then acquired, it 
is never lost. It is owing to habits of contorsion, 
that professional dancers are seldom remarkable 
for grace in any of the ordinary movements of 
life, and that, in the performance of these, they are 
generally constrained, formal and automatic. 

This combination of attitudes and evolutions, 
which is sustained by the aid of rythm, and during 
which the sensibilities and muscles are employed 
in a manner as useful as agreeable, is indeed an 
unexceptionable exercise for the lower extremities; 
provided always that the movements are not too 
protracted nor performed in a style more likely to 
enervate than fortify the organs. 

As in its effect upon the muscles, dancing 
does not exercise any of them so much as those 

R 2 



186 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



of the lower part of the trunk, they generally 
exhibit an evident increase at the expense of the 
upper part of the body and arms. This, how- 
ever, is not unfavorable to female form ; and the 
best proof of this is that this exercise produces, 
in men who make it their habitual practice, 
a great similarity in shape to women. 

Mr. Shaw observes, that deformity from undue 
exertion and disproportionate development of 
muscles, is especially observable in those opera- 
dancers who seem to pride themselves on their 
powder of making extraordinary leaps and 
pirouettes; their legs being almost herculean, 
w^hile their arms are quite feminine. 

In professional dancers, the excess of this 
exercise causes the pelvis to appear large, by 
the prodigious development of the surrounding 
muscles ; the neck is thin : the arms meager ; the 
shoulders seem narrow, and contrast strongly 
whh the size of the pelvis, and especially with 
the enormous prominence of the hips. Dancers 
present a formation totally different from that of 
smiths and watermen, in whom the shoulders, 
chest and arms are developed at the expense of 
the inferior parts and lower hmbs. 

For these reasons, young persons, who dance 
a great deal, should always join with the dance 



DAXCING. 



187 



some other exercise, as that of the Indian sceptres, 
having for its object almost exclusively the 
development of the shoulders and arms. 

It is further observed, that bad effects on the 
form of the foot result from overstretching its 
hgaments; that very few opera-dancers can 
boast of a good instep off the stage ; that when 
the foot is placed on the ground, the arch of the 
instep yields to the weight of the body, and 
allows the concave part of the sole to rest on the 
same plane with the toes ; that when, therefore, 
these persons walk, they never rise on the toe, 
nor bend the foot ; and that, from their habit of 
turning the toes very much outwards, they acquire 
a peculiar mode of walking. 

Small bunyons or ganglions also are sometimes 
found about the ankle-joints of delicate girls, who 
have over exerted themselves in dancing. 

In the Bolero, when danced upon the stage, 
some of the performers nearly touch the floor 
with the inner ankle, which is a feat that no 
person with a fine and strongly formed ankle is 
capable of. 

For such reasons, Camper says, ^'l am of 
opinion that dancing should not be taught to a 
child before seven years of age, unless she be of 
a very strong constitution, and then I know of no 
better exercise for the body." 



188 COMBIXATIOXS OF EXERCISE. 



In a physiological point of view, dancing does 
not differ from ordinaiy walking, excepting that 
the extensions and flexions are more quickly 
repeated. Thus, the commotion produced by 
this kind of exercise is stronger than those that 
occur in walking, and their effects on the organs 
contained in the trunk much more sensible. 
Some of the functions consequently are soon 
carried out of their habitual tone : the circulation 
becomes more rapid, the respiration more 
frequent, and perspiration more abundant. 

To be useful to health, dancing must not be 
engaged in immediately after a meal, nor be 
continued whole nights, nor in places confined 
in proportion to the number of dancers. In 
these places, there is frequently a great quantity 
of dust, which, joined to animal exhalations, 
and carried with the atmospheric air into the 
lungs, contributes with the slightest cause, the 
least chill, to create irritation in the parts. 
These become the more serious, because young 
people, especially of the female sex, are very 
careful to conceal the commencement of these 
afiections, lest they interfere with their views 
of pleasure. 

Dancing is an excellent exercise for females, 
because it powerfully counterbalances the inju- 
rious effects of their sedentary occupations. It 



DANCING, 



189 



is particularly suited to females in whom ennui 
and inaction have produced habitual indisposition, 
to those who are of a lymphatic temperament, but 
more especially to young persons in whom the 
appearance of the phenomena peculiar to their 
sex and age is slow, who are subject to irre- 
gularities, and even to symptoms of chlorosis. 
In this case, more confidence may be put in 
dancing than in the list of formulas that ignorance 
and quackery send forth. Indeed, this exercise 
of the dance to which young females resign them- 
selves sometimes with great difficulty, forms, in 
addition to a tonic regimen and delicate atten- 
tions, the most suitable treatment for chlorotic 
affections. 

With regard to their influence upon the ner- 
vous system, regular exercises in dancing have 
acquired great importance. At the approach of 
puberty, especially, they produce in their way 
the same effect as arms against the evil passions. 
Love is clothed in respect; art restrains the 
impetuosity of passion ; and an individual pre- 
sents himself with the confidence or the modesty 
of talent. It is thus that the arts conduce to 
civilization. 

By degrees mind assumes still more mastery^ 



190 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



and well placed action and the play of the coun- 
tenance, become exercises regulated according to 
social rules. The repressing and moderating the 
violent movements of the passions, and the 
decency of manner required by the customs of 
the world, are excellent means of uniting men 
together in society. 

The utility of dancing," says Dr. Paris, 
may certainly be deduced from these views, 
and its propriety sanctioned on just principles; 
but the lateness* of the hour at which these 
recreations commence, and, what is worse, the 
excessive heat and ill-ventilation of the apartmicnts 
in which they are usually carried on, must coun- 
teract any benefit which might otherwise attend 
an indulgence in them. If exercise be useful 
during the period of sanguification, pure air is no 
less so. 

There are, however, several dances that should 
be abandoned by very delicate women, on account 
of their causing too violent emotions, or an agi- 
tation which produces vertigo and nervous symp- 

♦ In former times the ball commenced at six, and ter- 
minated at eleven j but now it begins at eleven and ends at 
six. 



DANCING. 



191 



toms. Dances which require these violent shocks 
and the forcible employment of the muscles are 
obviously unsuitable to females, in whose move- 
ments we look for elegance instead of strength, 
and in whom those violent and difficult efforts 
which we admire at the theatre, would create 
much more astonishment than delight. 

Vertigo is one of the great inconveniences of 
the Waltz ; and the character of this dance, |its 
rapid turnings, the clasping of the dancers, their 
exciting contact, and the too quick and too long 
continued succession of lively and agreeable emo- 
tions, produce sometimes, in women of a very 
irritable constitution, syncopes, spasms and 
other accidents which should induce them to 
renounce it. 

Postscript. — Of the Waltz, it should have 
been said, that there are two principal styles, the 
German and the French, — the former almost on 
the flat foot, the latter on the tips of the toes, — 
the former remarkable for ease and grace, the 
latter of lighter and stifFer character. 

Of the Quadrille, it might have been observed, 
that, since the abandonment of all steps, the 
cavalier seul in trenis is admirably calculated to 
make a gentleman look perfectly ridiculous. 



192 



GESTURE. 
GENERAL REMARKS. 

This is, indeed, the chief accessory of the carriage, 
and one of the greatest importance. 

There are persons who flatter themselves that 
they possess emphatic and expressive gestures, 
and who weary their unfortunate auditors by the 
eternal repetition of the most vehement and 
ridiculous tricks, which they are pleased to 
designate as gesture. — Frequent extending of 
the arm, striking the air as if they were sawing, 
striking the table with the hand, clapping the 
hands, shaking the head, elevating the shoulders, 
throwing themselves back, wagging the knees, 
pulling the fingers, raising and depressing the 
eyebrows alternately, pulling the skin of the 
neck, the face, the hands, &c. all these actions, 
which are chiefly met with amongst very lively 
persons, are very tiresome and disagreeable. 

Gestures produced by feeling, seldom used, not 
exaggerated, and really graceful, are at the same 
time the finish and ornament of discourse: they add 
to the beauty of the figure, and give, if we may so 
speak, an expressive physiognomy to the carriage. 



GESTURE. 



193 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE IN THE FINE ARTS; 
APPLICABLE TO GESTURE IX ORATORY, 
TO SCULPTURE, THE HIGHER SPECIES 
OF PAINTING, ETC. AS WELL AS 
TO DANCING. 

Let US consider upon what principle these 
motions and attitudes become most expressive — 
most perfectly excite ideas, emotions and pas- 
sions, and answer all the purposes for which they 
are intended. 

The human figure consists of two symmetrical 
sides, which, as they are opposite to each other 
in situation, so are they in the actions which tliey 
perform. For in walking, we neither advance 
both arms nor both feet at the same time; the 
one is uniformly thrown backward, the other for- 
ward, and so on alternately. Nor would we, in 
walking, even carry forward the arm of one side 
while the foot of the other is advanced, were not 
this necessary to accelerate the mere act of pro- 
gression. But in gesture, progression is by no 
means our object, nor ought we to imitate the 
mere act of walking. 

It is strange, then, that this very error should 
have been considered as a rule by the most scien- 
tific painters. 

3 



194 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



Sir Joshua Reynolds* says, In the artificial 
management of the figures, it is directed that 
they shall contrast each other, according to the 
rules generally given ; that if one figure opposes 
his front to the spectator, the next figure is to 
have his back turned, and that the limbs of each 
individual figure he contrasted; that is, if the 
right leg be put forward, the right arm is to be 
drawn backv)ard and he adds, It is very 
proper that those rules should be given in the 
Academy/' 

It is in the same spirit that Du Fresnoyf says, 

la every figur'd group, the judging eye 
Demands the charms of contrariety; 
In forms, in attitudes, expects to trace 
Distinct inflexions, and contrasted grace. 
Where art diversely leads each changeful line, 
Opposes, breaks, divides the whole design : 
Thus, when the rest in front their charms display, 
Let one, with face averted, turn away; 
Shoulders oppose to breasts, and left to right, 
With parts that meet, and parts that shun the sight. 
This rule, in ^practice uniformly true, 
Extends alike to many forms or few4 



* Eighth Discourse. f -^^'^^ Graphica. 

X Inque figurarum cumulis non omnibus idem, 
Corporis infiexus, motusque ; vel artubus omnes 
Conversis pariter non connitantur eodem ; 



GESTURE. 



195 



From such a principle, great as the authorities 
may be which support it, I must dissent. These 
gentlemen probably deceived themselves by the 
contrasted motion of the leg and arm of the same 
side in walking. But in expressive attitude, 
progression is not our object; and such move- 
ments would be mere contortion. On the con- 
trary, the human figure, as I have already said, 
consists of two symmetrical sides, which, as they 
are opposite to each other in situation, so they 
ought to be opposed in the actions which they 
perform. 

The contrast which these gentlemen mention, 
is as incomplete as it is ungraceful. It is not 
the leg and arm of the same side that are to be 
contrasted to each other; for that would only be 
partial contrast: it is, on the contrary, the extre- 
mities of opposite sides that are to be opposed; 
and that, too, in the most perfect manner, so that 
when the arm of one side is advanced, the arm 
of the other is to be withdrawn — when the arm 
of one side is elevated, that of the other is to be 

Sed qusedam in di versa trahant contraria membra, 
Transverseque aliis pugnaut, et cetera frangunt. 
Pluribus adversis aversam oppone figurara, 
Pectoribusque humeros, et dextra membra sinistriSf 
Sen multis coitstabit optis, paucisvefiguris,'^ 



196 



COiMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



depressed; nor are the leg and arm of opposite 
sides by any means to be advanced, or withdrawn 
together, for that, instead of contrast, would be 
correspondence, and instead of graceful attitude, 
would be contorsion. 

It was from this mistake of all principle, that 
Sir Joshua Reynolds was under the necessity of 
making such exceptions to the particular prin- 
ciple which he alluded to, as to render it no 
principle at all. 

He says the artless uniformity of the old 
Gothic painters is far preferable to this false refine- 
ment — this ostentatious display of academic art. 
A greater degree of contrast and variety may be 
allowed in the picturesque or ornamental style; 
but we must not forget that they are the natural 
enemies of simplicity, and consequently of the 
grand style, and destroy that solemn majesty, 
that soft repose, w^hich is produced in a great 
measure by regularity and uniformity.'' It is 
indeed strange that he was not led to see that 
these rules are utterly incorrect and entirely 
useless. 

The simple principle of elegant contrast in atti- 
tude and motion is, that while either of the extre- 
mities of one side is advanced, both those of the 
other must be withdrawn, and when either of the 



GESTURE. 



197 



extremities of one side is elevated, the corres- 
ponding one of the other must be depressed. 

The contrast which takes place according to 
this principle is more especially between the 
upper extremities of opposite sides, and between 
the lower extremities of opposite sides, not 
between the upper of one and the lower of the 
other side. For, on the contrary, between the 
last- mentioned extremities, a species of harmony 
exists. When the arm of one side is raised, the 
leg of the other is to be correspondingly elevated ; 
and when the arm of one side is carried before 
the head, the leg of the opposite side is to be 
thrown behind its fellow; and although the 
movement in one is forward, and in the other 
backward, yet they perfectly correspond, because 
the greater number of the articulations of the 
upper extremity have an anterior aspect, and 
those of the lower a posterior one — the one extre- 
mity as naturally bends backward as the other 
forward, and therefore, though the names of these 
motions differ, yet they are perfectly suitable to 
the consentaneous elevation of the opposite arm 
and leg, and their corresponding extension is. 
perfectly suitable to their consentaneous depres- 
sion. Thus the consentaneous elevation and 
inflexion, and the depression and extension of 

s2 



198 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



the opposite arm and leg, afford a principle of 
harmonic attitude and movement as beautiful as 
that of contrast already mentioned. 

The simple principle, then, of harmony in 
attitude and motion is that the upper extremity 
of one side and the lower of the other must be 
elevated and inflected, and depressed and ex- 
tended together. 

When, on the contrary, the leg and arm of 
one side are elevated together, the equipoise of 
the body is lost; one side of the figure seems to 
be firmly supported, and the other to be, as it 
were, hanging by it; and in consequence of the 
leg of the fixed side being straight, and the arm 
of the same side pendent, the whole of that side 
seems motionless, and the w^hole of the other in 
action; the figure appears to have one half alive 
and the other dead, or rather one half paralytic 
and the other in convulsion. The loss of equipoise 
may be remedied, by twisting the trunk of the 
body to the side on which the arm is pendent^ 
and of which the leg is straight ; but the awk- 
wardness will thereby be increased. There, how- 
ever, remains no mode of remedying the unequal 
distribution of motion. 

In addition to this, I have only at present to 
observe, that the sphere of action of the upper 



GESTURE. 



199 



extremity is much greater than that of the lower, 
and that although the rules of contrast and har- 
mony in attitude, which I have just stated, 
admit of no exception in their ideal or scientific 
application, yet that, on account of this greater 
sphere of action, the upper extremities are, in all 
the expressions of rapid mental action, or strong 
emotion and passion, to be proportionally more 
elevated than the lower. This produces a good 
effect, because, by throwing its weight upward, 
it hghtens the whole figure, and prepares for the 
execution of those rapid motions which the pas- 
sions dictate. 

But although these principles are very gene- 
rally apphcable, they are not without exceptions. 
It is obvious that, to the common acts of life, they 
are not intended to apply — the mechanic must 
regulate the motion and attitude of his limbs, 
not by any theory of ideal beauty, but by the 
form of the machinery which he must actuate, or 
of which he may almost be said to form a portion. 
It is also obvious that, in some of the superior 
circumstances of life, as in the preaching of St. 
Paul, alluded to by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a 
formal attitude is far more correct than the most 
graceful ideal one, because it is more natural to 
the person who uses it, and, consequently, more 



200 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

likely to interest those who are concerned 
in it. 

All this, however, forms no real objection to 
the general rules just delivered. They are rules 
which the orator, the sculptor, and the painter 
ought ever to have in view. It is as proper to 
the saint in prayer equally to elevate the arms to 
heaven, as it is to the shoemaker to throw out 
his elbows in a lateral direction; both of these 
are the acts of their pecuhar employments ; both 
of them are correct and becoming in their situa- 
tion ; but neither of them afford either exception 
or objection to the principles of ideal elegance 
and grace. 

Whatever authority the rules I have just de- 
livered may seem to stand in need of, I have 
more than sufficient to establish them. I can 
produce, in their support, the happiest remains 
of antiquity. He who examines the Laocoon 
will not, for an instant, hesitate upon the ques- 
tion. In the Laocoon, one side is advanced, 
another is withdrawn ; one arm is elevated, ano- 
ther is depressed. {See Plate XXX.) From 
this circumstance, the slightest consideration will 
show that it derives much of its beauty. 

In the Laocoon, the left side is advanced, the 
right is withdrawn; the right arm and the left 




LAOCOOIT 



I 



GESTURE. 



201 



leg are extended; and the left arm and the right 
leg are bent. As, according to the principles 
just announced, the contrast is ideally perfect, 
so is it consummately beautiful. 

In short, the most careless observer, once in 
possession of these principles, will be able to trace 
to them much of the beauty which the admirable 
remains of antiquity possess, and to see that 
some of their occasional defects result from the 
neglect of these principles. 

A friend objects that, in the Laocoon, the 
attitude is the result of the mere endeavour to 
remove the head as far as possible from the ser- 
pents rising round the limbs, and therefore the 
leg is extended on one side as far as the muscular 
powers will permit, and the body is extended in 
the opposite direction." — But it is enough for the 
preceding principles, that, while the Grecian 
sculptor, by means of the attitude, effects the ex- 
pression here alluded to, that attitude is strikingly 
conformable to the principles here described : the 
extremities diagonally placed, accurately corres- 
pond, and the action is thereby spread over the 
figure. To prevent, however, the slightest doubt 
as to the great sculptor's feeling these principles, 
the elder son, placed on the left hand, has the 



202 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



left arm and right leg most extended, and the 
right arm and left leg most bent ; while the 
younger son, on the right, has the same general 
direction of the limbs as the father. 

I have illustrated the Greek procedure upon 
these principles, from the group of the Laocoon^ 
because the attitude of every figure is evidently 
constructed upon them. But the remnants of 
Greek sculpture afford innumerable examples of 
the same kind ; as in the Apollo Saurotonos, the 
Borghese Bacchus, the Meleager, the Adonis, &c. 

As principles, the Greeks may not indeed have 
known these, seeing that their writers have not 
described them, and that they have sometimes 
deviated from them ; but it affords the best argu- 
ment in their favour, that, without defining them 
as such, their exquisite taste generally led to 
their adoption. 

The modern Mercury of Giovanni Bologna, to 
which great beauty caiinot be denied, appears to 
deviate in some respects from these principles ; 
but still the right arm and left leg correspond in 
their extention, while the left arm and right leg 
are bent ; and, as this gives greater reach to the 
figure by all the breadth of the chest (and for 
the purpose of reach we always employ these 



GESTURE. 



203 



means), it was easily associated with the notion 

of flight, which the sculptor intended {See Plate 

XXXI, fg. 1.) 

The same taste led the Greeks to violate this 
principle, in general, when they wished to express 
the awkward gesture of a faun or clown. This 
is admirably exemplified in the figure called the 
Clapping Faun, and many others, in which the 
leg and arm of one side are elevated together 
{See Plate XXXI, Jig, 2.), precisely as would 
in general be done by any country- fellow in 
attempting to dance. 

It is not a little curious that on this subject 
dancing-masters have espoused the painters' 
academic principle as their rule. 

M. Noverre, speaking of opposition, says that 
*^of all the movements executed in dancing, the 
opposition or contrast of the arms to the feet is 
the most natural, and, at the same time, the least 
attended to. Observe, for instance, a number 
of persons walking; you will see that when they 
place the right foot before, the left arm natu- 
rally falls before also, and is thus in opposition 
with it.** 

This, says M. Blasis, " appears to me a general 
rule, and from thence it is that skilful dancers 
have acquired the true manner of carrying their 



204 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

arms, and forming a constant opposition of them 
with their feet; that is to say, that when the left 
arm is behind^ the left leg must he before'^ 

Noverre does not, in my opinion, treat of the 
opposition with that clearness and exactness 
which the subject requires : indeed, few writers 
have done so. The obscurity, therefore, that has 
existed on this important particular in dancing, 
has occasioned it to be an object of continual 
controversy among professional dancers. [No 
wonder!] When he says that opposition takes 
place each time that the man or dancer puts one 
leg forward, he means to point out that if suck 
foot, so placed before, be the right, the left arm 
must naturally be carried forward at the same 
instant, whilst the opposite limbs remain behind. 
This opposition gives the dancer a very graceful 
appearance, as he thereby avoids that uniformity 
of lines in his person so unbecoming a favorite 
of Terpsichore/' 

Not contented with these erroneous assertions, 
which apply not to expression, but to the mere 
purpose of progression, M. Blasis proceeds to 
illustration. '^That particular position," he says, 
which is technically termed attitude, is the most 
elegant, but at the same time the most difficult 
which dancing comprises. It is, in my opinion, 
5 



GESTURE. 



205 



a kind of imitation of the attitude so much 
admired in the Mercury of J. Bologne." And he 
refers to a view which is here copied in Plate 
XXXI, fig, 3, and which effectually proves how 
awkward and ugly such attitude is when not 
redeemed by the circumstances of the body 
bending to the opposite side, the great reach, and 
the purpose of flight so beautifully expressed by 
Giovanni Bologna. 

Some living and fashionable teachers of dancing 
have gone still further in following the erroneous 
principles laid down by painters; and as this 
can introduce only ludicrous attitudes among 
their pupils, it must here be noticed. 

^' All the objects," says Sir J. Reynolds, the 
originator of the erroneous principles now to be 
noticed, which are exhibited to our view by 
nature, upon close examination will be found to 
have their blemishes and defects. The most 
beautiful forms have something about them like 
weakness, minuteness, or imperfection. But it 
is not every eye that perceives these blemishes: 
It must be an eye long used to the contempla- 
tion and comparison of these forms ; and which, 
by a long habit of observing what any set of 
objects of the same kind have in common, has 



206 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



acquired the power of discerning what each wants 
in particular. 

Thus it is from a reiterated experience, and 
a close comparison of the objects in nature, that 
an artist becomes possessed of the idea of that 
central form, if I may so express it, from which 
every deviation is deformity." 
- Again, Every species of the animal as well as 
the vegetable creation may be said to have a 
fixed determinate form, towards which Nature is 
continually inclining, like various lines terminating 
in the centre; or it may be compared to pendulums 
vibratino; in different directions over one central 
point ; and as they all cross the centre, though 
only one passes through any other point, so it 
wnll be found that perfect beauty is oftener pro- 
duced by nature than deformity ; I do not mean 
than deformity in general, but than any one kind 
of deformity. To instance in a particular part of 
a feature : the line that forms a ridge of the nose 
is beautiful when it is straight ; this then is the 
central form, which is oftener found than either 
concave, convex, or any other irregular form that 
shall be proposed. As we are then more accus- 
tomed to beauty than deformity, we may conclude 
tha.t to be the reason why we approve and admire 
it, as we approve and admire customs and fashions 
6 



GESTURE. 



207 



of dress for no other reason than that we are used 
to them; so that though habit and custom cannot 
be said to be the cause of beauty, it is certainly 
the cause of our Hking it; and I have no doubt 
but that if we were more used to deformity than 
beauty, deformity would then lose the idea now 
annexed to it, and take that of beauty : as if the 
whole world should agree that yes and no should 
change their meaning ; yes would then deny, and 
no would affirm/' 

And again, " From what has been said, it may 
be inferred that the works of Nature, if we com- 
pare one species with another, are all equally 
beautiful, and that preference is given from cus- 
tom or some association of ideas ; and that, in 
creatures of the same species, beauty is the 
medium or centre of all its various forms,'* 

Now, this medium or central beauty is alto- 
gether without foundation. The beautiful straight 
line, which, in the Greek head, passes from the 
forehead to the tip of the nose, is no medium or 
central beauty, but positively an extreme ; very 
few so high, and none higher being to be found I 
In the same manner, the high ideal forehead and 
great facial angle of the Greeks is an extreme, of 
which perhaps not even one instance ever existed 
in nature. 



208 COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 

Instead, then, of beauty being median or cen- 
tral, and dependent on custom, it will generally, 
if not always, be found to be an extreme, which 
is rarcly if ever seen, but to which nature, in its 
highest perfection, does not the less obviously 
tend. Hence it is found chiefly in the dreams of 
love, and the creations of sculpture and painting. 

Such reflections, however, are out of the reach 
of the performers of entrechats and pirouettes ; 
and accordingly, the teachers alluded to have 
their beauty and grace of motion in a medium of 
flexion and extension. Of one of these teachers— 
the fabricator, if I mistake not, of this nonsense^ 
as borrowed by dancing, one of the pupils favours 
me with an account of this medium grace, which 
1 here insert. 

" Mr. 's principles I had from himself, and 

delivered in a manner so quaint that words are 
utterly unequal to describe them ; but I will do 
my best. They are very easily shown to be 
absurd. — The shoulder-joint has a motion by 
which it carries the arm from the side upwards 
to a horizontal position; the exact medium 
between that and the perpendicular position is 
grace: if the principle be good for anything, 
grace may direct it obliquely upward as well as 



GESTURE. 



209 



downward.* The joint admits of similar action 
in a horizontal direction from the position first 
described to the front of the body, forming a 
quarter of a circle; the exact medium between 
the projection to the side and to the front is grace. 
The arm can be bent at the elbow-joint, so as to 
form a right angle ; it can also be straightened ; 
the exact medium is grace.f The arm admits of 
supination and pronation; the exact medium 
between the extremes of each, and the quiescent 
state is grace. The wrist can be bent upon the 
arm almost to a right angle, either inwards or 
outwards, perhaps more accurately forwards or 
backwards ; the exact medium between those 
actions and the hand kept in a straight line with 
the arm, is grace. All these medium positions, 
when combined, produce an action hardly to be 
described. The arm is raised, and brought for- 

* If there were any systematic method in this medium 
plan, the horizontal position of the arm should have been 
regarded as the perfect medium between the direction of 
the arm perpendicularly downward and perpendicularly 
upward ! The Dancing-Master, however, thinks nature's 
medium wrong f and makes -d right one of his own ! — D. W. 

t But from the rectangular position here assumed as an 
extreme ! the forearm can be bent almost into a parallel 
with the arm ; and the acute angle formed between these 
ought also to be grace ! — D. W. 

T 2 



210 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



ward to an inclination of 45^ both from the 
horizontal and lateral positions ; the elbow is 
bent to a similar angle ; and the wrist, after 
pronation to the same number of degrees, forms 
a similar angle with the arm. Of course, the 
antero-posterior, the lateral, and the rotatory 
motion of the head upon the neck, of the spinal 
column upon the pelvis, &:c. proceed to exactly 
the same extent; and grace and Mr. are com- 
plete. How this principle is to be applied to the 
legs of ladies, I never could exactly comprehend. 
Opera dancers raise the leg from the standing 
position to a right angle with the body ; the 
exact medium, as in the double action of the 
shoulder, should be grace. The leg may be 
straight, or the knee bent to a right angle ; the 
exact medium may be taken and grace assumed 
only with one leg at a time. The rotatory 
motion of the hip-joint may be exerted to the 
exact medium, bringing the feet to an angle of 
90° with each other. But the principle is not 
always readily applied. I think an artist might 
draw a graceful figure in defiance of this medium 
principle ; and without a great deal of difficulty, 
might invent a ludicrous figure, in exact accord- 
ance with it." — This is done in Plate XXXII, 
figs, 1 and 2, in which a few of Mr. 's rules 



GESTURE. 



211 



are scrupulously followed. In jig, 1, the half- 
bent knees and half-open mouth alone produce 
the graceful crouch of a boy expecting the rod ! 
In fig. 2, a little more complication makes the 
matter still worse ! 

It is not a little curious that the Dancing or 
Clapping Faun, a perfect model of rustic and 
awkward gesture, owes its rusticity and awk- 
wardness solely to an accurate adoption, except 
with one leg, of this medium grace ! 

If these teachers of grace would only make a 
few drawings or diagrams in strict conformity 
with their principles — if they would but follow the 
advice of M. Blasis, who says, I shall conclude 
this chapter by recommending to your attention 
the study of drawing, as almost indispensable to 
make a perfect dancer : by drawing, you acquire 
better ideas of symmetry, elegance and graceful- 
ness^ especially if you pursue the heau ideal, 
which this art possesses — if they would do this, 
we should have the fair means of judging. 
M. Blasis himself accordingly gives us, in his 1 1th 
Plate, the two figures accurately copied in Plate 
XXXII, figs, 3 and 4, as conforming with his 
notions of grace and the beau ideal. The second 
of these^figures he calls an arabesque backward : 
but though that curious position may entitle the 



212 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



man to turn the front of liis legs backward, the 
first figure might have been excused so graceful 
an effort even with one of his legs. Being, how- 
ever, in the same plate with the second, M. Blasis 
was perhaps reluctant that he should be altogether 
outshone in grace, and so he permitted him to 
t^nst one of his legs. — There is nothing Uke 
drawings to make these things clear ! 



PART IV. 



APPLICATION OF EXERCISES TO THE 
CONDUCT OF LIFE. 



DEPORTMENT. 

A SUITABLE deportment is a proof of good 
education, or of a natural sense of propriety : it 
at once heightens the value of intellectual attain- 
ments, and constitutes a finish to beauty. As it 
is intimately connected with, and in some measure 
a result of, the preceding exercises, it may with- 
out impropriety be noticed here. 

Mentioning the point, of education for youth, 
Herbert of Cherbury says, I speak not of this, 
as if I would have a youth never stand still in 
company, but only that when he hath occasion to 
stir, his motions may be comely and graceful ; 
that he may learn how^ to come in, and go out of 



2i4 



APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



a room where company is ; how to make curtesies* 
handsomely ; how to put ofF and hold his hat ; al! 
which, and many other things which become men, 
are taught by the more accurate dancing-masters 
in France/' 

Gallini, a man far superior to dancing-masters 
generally, has written an excellent paper on this 
subject, which I am sure 1 shall gratify my readers 
by quoting at some length. Had a name distin- 
guished in literature been attached to it, it would 
have been better known, and more valued. 

Of how many captivating graces, says he, is 
not the deportment susceptible, where a proper 
care is taken of improving the gifts of nature ? 
A gay, modest and open countenance ; ease in the 
various attitudes ; a firm assured gait without 
heaviness ; light or airy without indecency or 
precipitation ; a certain flexibility in the hmbs ; 
a muscular agility, for the readily taking all the 
characters, or making all the movements requisite 
for expressing a due regard to one's company; 
to all these the body of man has from its very 
infaacy so natural a disposition, that there is 
nothino; more than a moderate cultivation needful 
to accomplish one in them, joined with a little of 
habit and attention to keep them up. 

* Bows or obeisances, from cortesia^ civilitj. 



DEPORTMENT. 



215 



When once a habit of easy dignity, with an 
unaffected air of portliness, has been sufficiently 
familiarised, it will constantly shew itself in every 
even the most indifferent gesture or action of the 
possessor, and only the more so, for his being 
himself unconscious and insensible of it. Does 
he come into a room ? His air immediately strikes 
the company in his favour, and gives a prepos- 
sessing idea to his advantage. He will then have 
nothing to do but to keep up the impression he 
will have made. 

^' Should a person even not have been favoured 
by nature with the happiest of figures, it is still 
in his power, if not totally to cure that defect, 
at least greatly to mend it, by the acquisition of 
such a noble or graceful air, as may give all 
possible advantage to his appearance and 
demeanor, and in some measure atone for the 
injuries of nature. 

But how great, how cruel an injustice do 
young gentlemen do to themselves, who, not only 
advantaged by a distinguished birth, but withal 
by a most regular figure, lose or, at least, greatly 
lessen the effect of those advantages by a gross 
and unpardonable neglect of their manner of 
deportment. Some you will see with an ignoble 
slouch; -Others distorting their neck or body; 



216 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

others turning their toes inward ; some again with 
an awkward management of their hmbs ; and 
many with these and other defects all at once, not 
knowing how to walk, to sit, to stand, or do any 
one action of life with grace or propriety. Speak 
to them, they answer either with a booby bash- 
fulness, or worse yet, with a forward indecent 
pertness. Ask them to sit down, some will just 
stick themselves on the corner of the chair; others 
lean on the back of it, as if glewed to it. If a 
bow is to be made, it is with scraping, or with 
shaking the head, or throwing it in your face. 
If a curtesy, the young untutored lady hangs her 
head, and mxakes her obeisance with her eyes 
fixed on the ground, or pokes out her head, 
sticking back her arms, like one of the figures in 
Hogarth's dance. Their gait in walking is con- 
formable to all this ; disagreeable and unsightly. 

But if such are the disadvantages of neglected 
improvement in fine and even amiable persons, 
how much must bad be made still worse, where 
the natural defect and imperfections of those to 
whom nature will have been less kind, are left to 
themselves without care or correction. 

It is then of great moment to inspire a just 
idea of this importance of acquiring a distinguished 
air and deportment, into the earliest youth, at 



DEPORTMENT. 



217 



that season of life, when they seize every lesson 
with the greatest vivacity, and when every lesson 
makes the strongest and most durable impression 
on their tender minds. Then it is that, in the 
very dawn of their reason, which it is so indispen- 
sable a duty, for those who have the care of their 
education, to watch and to improve, not only in 
this but in other points, it will be expedient to 
apply to that innate pride, which by giving to it 
a proper direction, and by fixing it on great or 
noble objects, becomes even a virtue. 

" Nor can it well be called an exaggeration, 
or a partiality to my profession, to reckon among 
the noble objects of education, that of not only 
putting a youth into the way of giving the utmost 
value to his personal figure, by the improvement 
of his air and deportment ; but by inculcating to 
him so useful a truth, as that even an opinion 
of the elevation of the understanding, is in a 
great measure regulated by the appearance, or 
exterior air and carriage of the person. To whom 
can it be unknown that all that power of gesture, 
which Demosthenes considered as the principal 
point in oratory, principally depends on the 
acquisition of a proper air, and commandingnes^ 
of aspect, combined with a propriety of gesture 



u 



y^PPLICATI'JN OF EXERCISES. 



and action ? How justly does La Bruyere obsen^e, 
that a fool cannot sit down like a man of sense ? 

It will certainly not give the sense, the 
knowledge which constitutes the orator, and 
therefore in that light it can be of no service to a 
pretender to oratory ; but where sense and know- 
ledge really exist, it will greatly increase his 
powers and efficacy in the production of them to 
his audience. 

And even when persons, either from a natural 
incapacity, or from want of sufficient study, con- 
fine themselves to silence, without pretensions to 
speak, theh defects receive a most friendly and 
desirable cover from that air of politeness, of pro- 
priety of demeanor, which even dignifies silence, 
and does justice to the motives of it, when they 
are founded upon a modest consciousness of 
insufficiency for attempts at oratory ; an insuf- 
ficiency which not unfrequently goes with an 
excellent understanding. Nay this very air and 
demeanor, for the importance of the acquisition 
of which I am contending, has often made a silence 
owing to incapacity, suspected of higher motives, 
and rather of an excess of reserve and discretion, 
than of a defect of abilities. 

" 1 have precedently observed, that youth, 



DEPORTMENT. 



219 



from its flexibility, its readiness to receive and 
retain the habits contracted in that happy age, is 
the fittest season for instruction of all kinds. 
And surely while nothing can be a truer axiom 
than that a good habit is more easily to be con- 
tracted than a bad one, must it not be rather a 
cruel neglect, to lapse that time, that perhaps 
irretrievable time, without the requisite cultivation 
and improvement of it? Then it is that nature 
being the most susceptible of the adventitious 
perfection of art, may be said to invoke its aid, to 
form an accomplished total : foT nature can only 
give graces, but it is art that gives grace itself. 

It is then hardly possible to recommend too 
much the power of this art, to assist youth in 
forming such a noble and distinguishing air and 
deportment, as will give them that ever valuable 
advantage of favorable impressions, at the first 
sight, a prejudice not easily to be cancelled ; and 
the means to preserve those impressions by a con- 
tinuance of that Avinning air and manner which 
will have at the first made them; an air, that as 
I have before observed, often renders even silence 
eloquent; an air that always implies an excellent 
education, and sometimes supposes a natural 
elevation of mind, even where it does not always 
exist ; though without it, such an air is rarely 



220 



APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



indeed attainable to any degree of perfection. 
It never fails of raising to all appearance medio- 
crity many degrees above its real standard of merit. 
And v^^ho does not know the force and importance 
of appearances? 

This air always so valuable, and on many 
occasions of life, of such infinite service to the 
possessor, can never be the produce of a moment; 
but, to be effectual, must be habitual. It must 
have been acquired by instruction, by observa- 
tion, and especially by keeping the best company, 
among which it is constantly practised. A per- 
son unused to it, would, in vain, try to put it on, 
for any particular occasion. The novelty of it to him 
would sit awkward upon him, and the temporary 
affectation be too gross to pass. It would be 
instantly seen through, and the stiffness with 
straining for it, be even ridiculous. The grace of 
ease can never be acted, it must have stolen into 
second and better nature in virtue of a habit, con- 
tracted not to destroy the first nature, but only 
to improve and embellish it. Thus the pohshing 
of gold does not injure the colour, but adds lustre 
to it. A person who has once got this habit of 
a noble, decent, graceful air, needs be in no fear 
of losing it, if he takes but the least care to keep 
it up. The difficulty for him would be not to 



DEPORTMENT. 



221 



shew it in his every action and gesture. He will 
then be at the happy point of that advantage 
being as natural to him, as the contrary defect 
will be to those who shall have neglected' to 
acquire it. 

It will also be the first quality, as being an 
external one, that will strike the more immedi- 
ately those who see him. It will be to them 
precisely what a great mass of light is in a 
painting, which at the first glance over it com- 
mands the eye from attention to the shades of it. 
Whereas, in the case of an awkward, clumsy, 
uno-enteel air, its disa2:reeable effect is like that 
of a distorted limb, or a false attitude, in the 
painting of a human figure, which strikes alike 
the connoisseurs, and the ignorant, who judge of 
nature from nature itself. 

" There is then nothing, which regards the 
personal exterior, that ought to be more guarded 
ao-ainst than a bad habit. The unconsciousness 
of it being, in most people, the reason for then- 
not trying to get rid of it, those can never be 
the true friends, or the proper directors of youth, 
who do not make them sensible of their interest 
in attending to this point. Many, indeed, blinded 
by partiality, do not see the fault in such as are 
dear to them, and are consequently the authors 

u 2 



222 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

or causes of a neglect they will have often occa- 
sion to repent, a prepossessing exterior being 
one of the master-keys to the human heart. 

^ Nor is the instruction proper for forming 
the air or carriage, confined to the limbs and 
body. The looks of a person make an essential 
part, as they give life and soul to the whole ; 
they are to the whole what the sun is to a rich 
la,ndscape of Claude Lorraine, where its effects 
declare the presence of a luminary beyond the 
reach of expression in painting. A modest grace- 
ful look, with ease in the manner of carriage, 
irresistibly captivates. Even in the greatest 
passions, in the greatest sallies of vivacity, that 
decency of look, that grace of ease, should never 
abandon us in our actions or speech. 

It is also remarkable, that the habitual tenor 
of this elegant air, this dignity of port, being 
once framed, it enforces all that is said, \nth 
much more weight than an oticasional vehemence 
of tone or gesture, by fits and starts, which 
betrays too much of passion not to beget in others 
prejudice or indisposition; whereas, an elegance 
of deportment, always supposing education, 
carries also with it more of the air and authority 
of reason. In the one, oratory is too theatrical; 
in the other, it is more in the character of a 



DEPORTMENT. 



223 



statesman, master of his subject and of himself. 
Thus a great and subUme sentiment, delivered 
with the flow of ease, and with the grace of 
gesture, especially without the appearance of 
any affectation, or consciousness of producing 
any thing extraordinary, makes a ten times 
greater impression than when the same senti- 
ment is flung at the head of the hearers, with 
violent contortions, and straining for a pathos 
which never comes to those who strain for it, 
but in a form that oftener produces derision than 
admiration. 

Neither must that air, the acquisition of 
which I am recommending, ever appear to be 
the effect of study ; the beauty, the energy of it, 
is to seem something innate, and not acquired. 
The whole grace of it vanishes, when it is per- 
ceived to be an art. It must have been insen- 
sibly melted into the whole frame and behaviour ; 
a natural, not an adscititious advantage. 

But the great and indispensable preliminary 
to the teaching a good air, must be the cure of 
such defects as go to the forming a bad one. 
Even such as are naturally incurable, may, like 
those bodily disorders which do not admit of a 
thorough extirpation, be susceptible at least of 
mitigation and amendment : a low stature, a wry 



224 ArPLlCATION OF EXERCISES. 

shape, a prominent back, splay or bandy-legs, 
which no art can well redress, may still be ren- 
dered more tolerable or less disagreeable by 
accompanying advantages of iaiprovement of the 
air and manner. The very worst of figures may 
be presented in less unfavorable lights ; a point 
this, w^hich it is much for their interest to con- 
sult : with this further most just and most salu- 
tary advertence, that with great superiority to 
those graces to be acquired by good breeding, 
the charms of the understanding and the virtue 
of the heart will ever have a signal influence 
even over the exterior itself. 

'^The defects, which with attention and care 
are absolutely not incurable, are of two kinds, 
derived from nature, or contracted by habit. 

As to those defects proceeding from nature; 
as for example, a harsh, sour, lowering counte- 
nance, or a proud insolent air, of w^hich the pos- 
sessor may be perfectly unconscious; the friendly 
part to him would be to make him, without 
stiffening him in such an air by offensively 
remarking it to him, sensible of the disadvantage 
of it to his own happiness, and to the interest 
he has in being pleasing to society. If such a 
countenance, or air, proceeds from a bad heart, 
or a constitutional depravity of the mind, the 



DEPORTMENT. 



225 



cure will be the more difficult. Otherwise, as 
upon conviction, the change from bad to good, 
is an instinctive inclination of nature, it would 
not be very difficult even to give a new cast to 
the looks, a new disposition to the air, gait and 
carriage, by recommending proper models of 
imitation, by shewing the possibility and means 
of habitually throwing into the looks a more 
placid serenity, and into the air and deportment 
a more modest and engaging manner: when in- 
dependently of the lessons of art, nothing will 
have more efficacy than inculcating the neces- 
sity of politeness ; not that hollow unmeaning 
common-place pohteness, the affectation and 
disguise from which are so much in vain, since 
they are presently seen through, or felt, but that 
genuine and truly amiable politeness of the 
heart, which gives grace to every gesture, and 
irresistible charms to every word or action. 

As for the defects merely from bad habits, 
their cure is precisely like that of other bodily 
disorders, by contraries : and that not by offering 
sudden violence to them, but by gentle degrees 
of eradication. 

" Nothing is more frequent than for persons to 
have contracted some particular hauk of gesture, 
of holding or managing the hands, of sticking 



226 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

out the elbows, of, in short, some untoward or 
ungraceful attitude, grown by use into second 
nature, and sometimes even by mere dint of 
mimickry. 

There are some faults too, of which the cause 
is so amiable, and, abstracted from them, so 
pleasing, that they the more require the teacher's 
lessons of guarding against them, or of removing 
them where the habit of them is already con- 
tracted ; such, for example, as the too common 
practice of some young ladies, who purely from 
a natural disposition to cheerfulness and gaiety, 
and without the least thought of ill-nature, of 
censoriousness, or designed offence, will, when a 
stranger comes into a room, clustering and laying 
their heads together, keep tittering and laughing; 
which not only distresses the new comer, but 
gives to themselves an air of levity and under- 
breeding, which robs them of their greatest graces 
of delicacy and politeness. 

" In all cases, then, of disagreeable habit, a 
teacher's duty is to inculcate strenuously the 
necessity of getting the better of that recurring 
propensity, by a sedulous attention to the avoid- 
ing it, and by recovering the liberty of nature, 
to give that graceful ease and flowingness of 
movements and gesture, which bestow on the 



DEPORTMENT. 



227 



person the greatest advantage of which it is 
susceptible. 

^' But as every different scholar requires in 
some degree different lessons, according to their 
peculiar turn or dispositions, it is evidently 
impossible to convey, by writing, such general 
instructions as would be of use to the public. 
Practice, personal observation, and the lessons 
not only of the teachers of this art, but the 
advice of such parents and guardians of youth as 
are themselves masters of good breeding and 
knowledge of the polite world, must be the best 
means of forming the object of their care and 
tuition to that desirable point of perfection in 
especially what relates to the air or port of the 
person, of which one of our celebrated poets had 
so high a conception, that he said it might of 
itself stand for a patrimony: 

Patrimonio assai grande 
E un costume ^entil." 

We are now naturally led to ask where guid- 
ance or models of deportment may be best found. 

Good company, says Duclos, resembles a 
dispersed republic; the members of it are found 
in all classes : independent of rank and station, 
it exists only amongst those who think and feel, 



228 



APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



amongst those who possess correct ideas and 
honourable sentiments/'* 

The richest classes, constantly occupied with 
the absorbing interest of wealth and ambition, 
formerly introduced into their magnificent saloons, 
a grave and almost diplomatic stiffness of man- 
ners, of which the solemnity banished nature and 
freedom. The amusements of the poorest classes, 
which rather resemble a toil than a recreation, 
present to the spectator procedures irreconcilable 
to good taste. 

There are, moreover, too many points of resem- 
blance between the manners and education of the 
richest and poorest classes, to admit of our finding 
the elements of good society in either of them. 
The poorest orders are ignorant from want of 
means of instruction ; the richest, from indo- 
lence and perpetually increasing incapacity. 

It is, besides, not a httle curious that, even in 
the bygone days of ceremonious manners, the 
richer classes, by whom they were practised, 
were uniformly taught them by those illiterate 

* " La bonne compagnie ressemble a une republique 
dispersee ; on en trouve des membres dans toutes sortes de 
classes : independante de I'etat et du rang, elle ne se trouve 
que parmi ceux qui pensent etqui sentent, quiont les idees 
justes et les sentimens honnetes." 



DEPORTMENT. 



229 



persons of the poorer classes who almost alone 
practise the art of dancing-masters. 

It is, therefore, to the middle class almost 
exclusively that we must look for good society ; 
to that class, which, enjoying the aurea medio- 
critas of Horace, has not its ideas contracted by 
laborious occupations, nor its mental powers anni- 
hilated by luxury. 

In this class, it is truly observed, society is 
often full of charm : every one seems, according 
to the precept of La Bruyere, anxious both by 
words and manners to make others pleased with 
him and with themselves.'' There are in it slight 
differences of character, opinion and interest; 
but there is no prevailing style, no singular or 
affected customs. An unperceived interchange 
of ideas and kind offices there produces a delight- 
ful harmony of thoughts and sentiments; and the 
wish to please inspires those affectionate manners, 
those obliging expressions, and those sustained 
attentions, which alone render social unions plea- 
sant and desirable. 

Throughout Europe, the different states of 
society were contained within distinct limits 
during the last century; each condition had its 
peculiar character; and affectation of the customs 
peculiar to each class, or the attempt to imitate 

X 



230 ' APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

the manners of another class, opened a wide field 
to the observer. The courtier and the tradesman 
were men differing in dress, manners, mode of 
life and language ; in some respects, they were 
scarcely fellow-countrymen. The periods of life 
were also marked by a particular costume : 
youth, middle age, and old age had their peculiar 
part, manners, occupations and pleasures. It 
was these very distinctions which ensured those 
ceremonious manners which never exist among 
persons who live in a state of equality. 

Oversight of this truth alone could have led 
the aristocracy of this country to adopt the 
exclusive system which has long distinguished 
them. Those consequently who have had oppor- 
tunities of knowing them intimately have observed 
all that was formerly denominated polite man- 
ners gradually disappear from among them, and 
give place, as must ever be the case among 
equals, to a somewhat more abrupt and coarser 
familiarity. Hence few models of what was for- 
merly termed polite manners can be found among 
them. Nor does it seem possible to restore the 
condition of society in which these formerly 
flourished; the spell has been broken ; and fancy 
fairs, fetes al fresco, &:c. have been resorted to in 
vain. 



DEPORTMENT. 



231 



In these days, the middle class is more enlarged 
and powerful; marriages and want of money 
(the punishment of unfeeling taxation and pro- 
fuse expenditure) have brought all classes nearer 
to each other ; position in society depends some- 
what more upon merit; and the courtier has lost 
his power. 

In this, there is certainly one advantage. 
Politeness has ceased to consist of those arbi- 
trary forms which any one class could inflict 
upon the rest ; and natural politeness, which is 
as invariable as those principles of human nature 
out of which it arises, has taken their place. 

Natural poUteness is particularly agreeable; 
there is nothing stiff or constrained in it; and it 
has all the charm of good nature. The arbitrary 
politeness of affected people is ceremonious, exag- 
gerated and troublesome. From this, we are 
for ever rescued by the great change which has 
taken place in society, as well as from those 
ridiculous or contemptible secrets of politeness 
which were known only to the initiated, and of 
which I will now give a specimen from a French 
writer who does not yet see that such things are 
mere provincialities (for so they must be called 
in relation to the great theatre of the world) — 
trifles now felt to be beneath contempt — imper- 



232 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

tinences which are banished for ever. — But, to 
the specimen. 

" All the intellect in the world (says this 
writer) will not form a substitute for the know- 
ledge of those delicate manners in society which 
are established by custom. Men of intellect, 
and even of genius, have often conducted them- 
selves in society like ill-bred children : one 
example will suffice as proof of this. 

" The Abbe Cosson, professor of belles lettres 
at the College Mazarin, a perfect paragon in the 
art of teaching, overflowing with Latin, Greek 
and literature, thought himself a fountain of 
science ; he imagined it impossible that a man 
familiar with Persius and Horace could commit 
any breach of established rules, especially at 
table : but he was not long suffered to remain in 
this pleasing state of ignorance. One day he 
had been dining at Versailles with the Abbe 
Radonvillers, in company with several courtiers, 
blue ribbons, and marshals of France. He was 
afterwards boasting of having displayed a rare 
knowledge of etiquette and established forms. 
The Abbe Delille, who was present, offered to 
wager that he had committed a hundred incon- 
gruities. ^ Impossible (said the Abbe Cosson) ; 
I did as all the rest did.^ — ' What presumption ! 



DEPORTMENT. 



233 



(replied Delille); I will show you that you did 
nothing like anybody else. We will confine 
ourselves to the dinner : first of all, what did you 
do with your napkin on taking* your seat at the 
table? — MVhat did I do with my napkin! what 
everybody else did: I opened it, spread it on 
my breast, and fastened it by one corner to my 
button-hole.' — * Alas! my good fellow, you were 
the only one that did so , gentlemen do not make 
a display of the napkin; they leave it upon their 
knees. And pray how did you eat your soup V 
— ' As every one else did, I believe. I took my 
spoon in one hand, and my fork in the other/ — 
*A fork! good God, nobody eats soup with a 
fork; — but proceed. What did you take after 
soup?' — ' A new-laid egg.' — * And what did you 
do with the shell?' — ' What every one else did ; 
I left it for the servant that waited.' — * Without 
breaking it?'-—* Yes.' — * My poor friend, no one 
eats an egg without breaking the shell. And after 
your egg?' — * I asked for some bouilU.' — * Bouilli I 
nobody makes use of such an expression ; people 
ask for beef. And then?' — ' I asked the abbe 
Radonvillers to send me a portion of a very fine 
fowl.' — ' A fine fowl ! unfortunate man ! people 
ask for a pullet, a capon, or a chicken ; the word 
fowl is never heard but in the servants' hall. But 

X 2 



234 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



you have not told me how you asked for drmk. 
— ' Like the rest of the company; I asked for 
Bourdeaux and Champagne, of those who were 
near the decanters/ — * Recollect then, that people 
ask for Bourdeaux wine, and Champagne wine. 
But tell me, how did you eat your bread?' — ' Of 
course as every one else did; I cut it with my 
knife/ — * Dreadful ! people break their bread; 
they do not cut it. But to proceed; you took 
coffee V — ' Yes, like the rest. It was very hot, 
and I poured it out in small quantities from the 
Clip into the saucer.' — ' Well, my good fellow, 
you certainly were singular in that respect; 
people drink coffee from a cup; no one ever 
thinks of pouring it into a saucer. You see, my 
dear Cosson, you have not said a word, or made 
a single movement, without a violation of the 
established custom.' The good professor was thun- 
derstruck. He found out that Latin and Greek 
are not sufficient, and that a man of the world 
must obtain other acquirements, which, if not so 
important, are not less useful."* 

Now, COMMON SENSE, not CUSTOM, would poiut 

* " Tout I'esprit du monde ne saurait suppleer a la con- 
naissance des delicates theories consacrees par Pusage. 
Des hommes pleins de talens, de genie meme, se sont 



DEPORTMENT. 



235 



out to a docile man in any country the impro- 
priety of spreading a napkin over his person at 
dinner, because it is a declaration of dirtiness to 
be committed by him, and to be contemplated by 
the rest of the company; — and so of eating soup 
with a fork, of cutting the bread before him in- 
stead of breaking it, and of pouring coffee or tea 
into a saucer. But whether he break an egg-shell 
or leave it entire, whether he ask for boiled meat 

souvent conduits dans le monde comme des enfans mal 
eleves : un seul exemple suffira pour en donner la preuve. 

" L'abbe Cosson, professeur de belles-lettres au college 
de Mazarin, consomme dans I'art de Penseignement, sature 
de Latin, de Grec et de litterature, se croyait un puits de 
science ; il imagioat qu'un homme familier avec Perse et 
Horace ne pouvait faire de balourdise, a table surtout : il 
dut bien revenir de ce ridicule prejug6. Un jour il avait 
dine a Versailles chez Tabbe de Radonvillers, en compagnie 
de gens de cour, de cordons-bleus, de marechaux de France. 
II se vantait d'avoir deploje une rare connaissance de I'eti- 
quette des usages re9us. L'abbe Delille, present a ce dis- 
cours, paria qu'il avait fait cent incongruites, ' Comment 
done ! s'ecria Pabbe Cosson ; j'ai fait comme tout le monde. 
— QuiUe presomption ! reprit Delille ; vous allez voir que 
vous n'avez rien fait comme personne. Mais ne parlous 
que du diner. D'abord, que fites-vous de votre serviette 
en vous mettant a table ? — De ma serviette? je fis comme 
tout le monde: je la deployai, je I'etendis sur moi, et 
Pattachai par un coin a ma boutonniere. — Eh bien ! mon 



236 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



or beef, for fowl or pullet, for Bordeaux or Bor- 
deaux wine, are customs which deserve a mo- 
ment's consideration only from an imbecile. 
These things are the little contrivances of cun- 
ning idiots, a numerous class, who, lacking all 
real knowledge, think thus to distinguish them- 
selves ; they differ in every province or parish ; 
and a man of the smallest intellect would rather 
he disgraced than honoured by knowing them. 

The same failure to appreciate mere arbitrary 
customs, which varies infinitely in every place 

cher, vous etes le seul qui ayez fait cela. On n'etale pas 
sa serviette, on se contente de la mettre sur ses genoux. 
Et comment fites-vous pour manger la soupe ? — Comme 
tout le monde, je pense. Je pris ma cuiller d'une main et 
ma fourchette de Pautre...Votre fourchette, bon Dieu ! 
personne ne prend de fourchette pour manger la soupe. 
Mais poursuivons. Apres votre soupe, que mangeates- 
vous? — Un ceuf frais. — Et que fites-vous de la coquille? — 
Comme tout le monde, je la laissai au laquais qui me 
servait. — Sans la casser?— Sans la casser? — Eh bien ! mon 
cher, on ne mange jamais un oeuf sans briser la coquille. 
Et apres votre cEufl — Je demandai du bouilli. — =Du 
houilli! personne ne se sert de cette expression; on 
demande du boeuf. Et ensuite?... — Je priai I'abb^ de 
Radonvillers de m'envoyer d'une tres-belle volaille. — Mal- 
heureux! de la volaille! on demande du poulet! duchapon, 
de la poularde ; on ne parle de la volaille qu'a la basse-cour. 
Mais vous ne me dites rien de votre maniere de demander a 
boire.— J'ai, comme tout le monde, demande du Bordeaux, 



DEPORTMENT. 



237 



and at every time, which is not worth knowing 
and cannot possibly be known beyond a certain 
locaHty, and utter ignorance of which can therefore 
be of no discredit, has sometimes misled English 
as well as French writers to publish such con- 
temptible nonsense. Nothing,'' says one, " in- 
dicates a well-bred man more than a proper 
mode of eating his dinner. A man may pass 
muster by dressing well, and may sustain himself 
tolerably in conversation; but, if he be not per- 
fectly * au fait,' dinner will betray him.*' 

Could not such men have seen that this won- 

du Champagne, auxpersonnes qui en avaient devant elles.— 
Sachez qu'on demande du vin de Champagne, du vin de Bor- 
deaux. Mais dites-moi quelque chose de la maniere dont 
vous mangedtes votre pain. — Certainement a la maniere de 
tout lemonde : je le coupai proprement avec mon couteau... 
— Ah ! Ton rompt son pain, on ne le coupe pas, Avan9ons : 
le cafe, vous le prites 1 — Oh ! pour le coup, comme tout le 
monde. II etait br^lant, je le versai par petites parties de 
matasse dans ma soucoupe. — Et bien ! vous fites comme ne 
fit certainement personne. Tout le monde boit son cafe dans 
sa tasse, on ne le verse jamais dans la soucoupe. Vous 
voyez, mon cher Cosson, que vous n'avez pas dit un mot, 
pas fait un mouvement qui ne fat centre Tusage.' Le 
brave professeur resta confondu. II comprit que le Latin 
et le Grec ne suffisent pas, et que I'homme du monde doit 
encore rechercher d'autres connaisances qui, pour etre 
moins s6veres, ne sont pas moins utiles.'* 



238 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



derful difficulty, which they so silhly admire, 
would be nothing even to the most arrant fool 
who had witnessed it three times ; while its trifling 
must be as unknown as contemptible to the 
wisest person who lived in any different society ! 

A dignified and graceful deportment, equally 
removed from frivolity and affectation, appears 
at first so simple, easy and natural, that it seems 
impertinent to lay down rules for it. The man- 
ners and style, moreover, of good society can 
never be acquired from books. There are, how- 
ever, a few rules (subject to many exceptions and 
variations, without the slightest discredit either to 
nations or individuals, except from the cunning 
idiots described above), which may be termed its 
more material conditions. It then remains for 
every one, by moral disposition and by natural 
grace, to supply the last finish. 

As preliminary to address, I might speak of 
dress ; but the revolution which is taking place 
in this respect is so satisfactory, that no assistance 
of mine is required* All extremes of fashion are 
adopted only by wretched pretenders who can 
attract notice in no other way; considerations of 
fitness, in lieu of fashion, extensively regulate the 
dress of all intelligent and superior persons ; cos- 
tume among such persons is distinguished by 



DEPORTMENT. 239 

I 

richness, cleanliness, and perfect adaptation to 
form, features, and complexion, but is as unos- 
tentatious as possible; and jewellery is left to 
Jews and vulgar pretenders. Incongruities of 
dress, indeed, are carefully avoided; and, among 
ladies, the morning, the ordinary, the promenade, 
the carriage, and the ball dress, are as distinct as 
those of spring, summer, and winter: but order 
and propriety require this. I need not, however, 
dwell on a subject on which we have now a com- 
plete code in the work of Mrs. A. Walker, 
published by Hurst, of St. PauFs Church Yard, 

on the PRESERVATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF 

FEMALE BEAUTY, a work which no lady can be 
without. 

As to visits, common sense tells us that if a 
friend return from a far journey, or after a long 
absence, we should pay the first and earliest 
attention, consistent with the proprieties. 

In ordinary cases, visits are not paid before one 
o'clock, nor after three; as earlier visits are 
intrusions on the toilet or domestic affairs, and 
later ones interfere with the promenade. Neither 
are these morning visits ever to be of such dura- 
tion as to interfere with other engagements of 
the party visited. — Of course, no lady takes with 



240 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

her any friend uninvited ; though in favour of near 
relatives, great intimacy permits an exception. 

We must punctually return visits paid to us, 
unless we desire to avoid the society of those who 
have visited us. In such returns, it is often 
sufficient to leave a card at the house. 

In a visit of ceremony during winter, ladies 
properly quit their cloak in an antichamber, 
however splendid it may be. The bonnet and 
shawl, in a similar case, they as properly retain ; 
and indeed, except when visiting an intimate 
friend, it is evident that they should not take these 
off, unless at the express invitation of the lady 
visited, or after requesting permission. 

Where suitable accommodation exists, the lady 
visiting is duly announced; and, in any case, it 
is evident that to enter a room without being in 
some way announced, is barbarous. If there is 
no one to introduce a lady, she knocks gently, 
and waits a few seconds before opening the door, 
unless told to walk in. She may thus frequently 
avoid embarrassing situations. 

There are various modes of saluting; and, in 
accordance with the relation of the parties, the 
salutation will naturally be polite, respectful, 
warm, affectionate, or familiar. 



DEPORTMENT. 



241 



The curtsey,* to ensure ease, dignity, and 
grace in the inevitably complex motions of the 
limbs, is performed as follows; — When walking", 
the lady stops so -that the body rests upon the 
advanced limb. — Then bringing the foot behind 
from the fourth position, successively into the third 
and the second, {See Plate XXXIII, Jig. 1), 
she shifts the weight of the body upon it. Lastly, 
bringing the foot extended laterally, into the third 
position behind, she passes it into the fourth 
behindf, inclines the body slightly forward, and 
gently bends the knees, {See Plate XXXIII, 
Jig. 2.) In rising, the weight of the body is shifted 
to the foot which is behind, {See Plate XXXIII, 
Jig. 3); and, in walking, the first step is made 
with the foot which is before. 

A slighter form of the curtsey, more applicable 
to passing onward after it is made, is performed 
while walking, by gliding forwards the foot of 
the side next to the person to be curtseyed to, a 
little previous to the moment of passing, throw- 
ing the weight upon it, turning the head as the 
person passes, inclining the head and body, and 

* A slight lowering of the person, as a mark of respect, 
seems natural enough, and is observed among most nations. 

t Or carrying it at once, hj a semicircular movement, 
into the fourth position behind, without bringing it pre- 
viously into the third. Y 



242 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

bending the knees {See Plate XXXIV, Jig. 1), 
and then throwing, in the rise, the weight on the 
foot behind, and continuing the walk by means 
of the foot which is advanced. 

A still hghter and gayer form is to make, at 
the moment of passing, a slight hop on the foot 
furthest from the person curtseyed to, as the 
nearer one passes forward {See Plate XXXIV, 
Jig. 2), then, keeping straight the nearer or 
advanced limb, which principally supports the 
weight, and turning the head as the person 
passes, to incline the body from the hips forward, 
and toward that person, without bending the 
knees, and continuing the walk from the foot 
which is behind. 

In entering a room where there are a number 
of persons, a lady advances a few steps, and 
glancing round the room, naturally salutes them 
all at once with a more or less formal curtsey, and 
addresses herself especially to the lady of the 
house. This being done, she is, if necessary, 
introduced to individuals. 

In making introductions," says Aywyog, the 
author of Hints on Etiquette,* **take care to 

* This is, in most respects, an excellent little tract ; and 
it is because such is the case, and because I shall have 
occasion to quote it favourablj, that I must also quote it 
with suitable reply, where I think it might mislead. 



DEPORTMENT 



243 



present the person of the lower rank to him of 
the higher; that is, the commoner should be pre- 
sented to the peer, not the peer to the commoner; 
Dr. A. to Lord B., not Lord B. to Dr. A." 

This was anciently the practice, but it has long 
been abandoned in enlio-htened circles ; because 
the distinctions of rank on which it is founded, are 
often altogether wanting ; because these dis- 
tinctions are frequently absurd, for who would 
have dared to introduce as inferiors Mr. Pitt, or 
Sir AY alter Scott, or Lord Byron to any paltry 
and little known person of higher title ? and 
because such distinctions are always invidious 
and offensive, especially when their tendency is 
more to honour an hereditary idiot, than a person 
of illustrious talent or of extraordinary virtue. 

In modern times, in the introduction of a person 
entering a room, that person is naturally first 
named, and next the person, or in succession the 
persons, to whom the introduction is made; and 
the curtsey is reciprocal. In an accidental 
meeting, when introductions seem proper, it is 
similarly the new comer who is first named to the 
larger party, and then, if necessary, each of the 
latter in succession. All the difl[iculty, absurdity, 
and offence of the antiquated method is thus 
happily avoided. 



# 



244 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

It is scarcely necessary to say, that when one 
lady and gentleman are concerned, the gentleman 
mast be presented to the lady, not the lady to the 
gentleman. 

In another point as to introductions, I feel 
myself called upon to dissent from the author of 
Hints on Etiquette." This is not, like the last, 
an antiquated error on his part; but it Tvould 
sanction formality, coldness and suspicion in the 
best society, and ought not therefore to exist. 

Never introduce people to each other," he 
says, " without a previous understanding that it 
will be agTceable to both. There are many 
reasons why people ought never to be introduced 
to the acquaintance of each other, without the 
consent of each party previously obtained. A 
man may suit the taste, and be agreeable enough 
to one, without being equally so to the rest of 
his friends — nay, as it often happens, decidedly 
unpleasing ; a stupid person may be delighted 
with the society of a man of learning or talent, 
to whom in return such an acquaintance may 
prove an annoyance and a clog, as one incapable 
of ofFerino' an interchange of thought, or an idea 
worth listening to." 

Now, it is evident that stupid people, 
incapable of offering an interchange of thought, 



DEPORTMENT. 



245 



or an idea worth listening to/' should not be 
suffered to enter the same apartment with ^^men 
of learning and talent." To permit this, is, 
indeed, to furnish an annoyance and a clog" 
to the latter : but, on the other hand, the host 
acts with gross injustice to the stupid people" 
whom he is pleased to countenance, if, by refusing 
to name them to others, &c., he treats them with 
formality, coldness, and suspicion. 

The error now^ pointed out, evidently arises 
from the author of Hints" attaching far too 
much importance to such introductions. The 
presence of these people in the same apartment, 
is a pledge already given on the part of the host, 
that none of them in character and conduct is 
disgraceful to his company, and the reciprocally 
naming them, merely sets each at ease in the 
converse that must ensue with the rest. 

This error generates a second. The writer says 
It is, however, understood in society, that a 
person having been properly introduced to you, 
has some claim on your good offices in future ! 
you cannot therefore slight him without good 
reason!! and the chance of being called to an 
account for it" !!! — If such a statement were true, 
certainly he who, by introducing one person to 

Y 2 ' 



246 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



another, should subject both to such a hazaid, 
ought himself to be called to account'' for it ! 
The doctrine is perfectly monstrous. 

These errors are the more surprising, seeing 
that the same writer, in what he says elsewhere, 
unconsciously distinguishes between intro- 
ductions/' which merely give persons the means 
of addressing each other in conversation without 
being objects of suspicion, and the absolute 

making of acquaintance for he justly says 

If you should find an agreeable person in 
private society, who seems desirous of making 
your acquaintance, there cannot be an objection 
to your meeting his advances half-way, although 
the ceremony of an introduction may not have 
taken place ; his presence in your friend's house 
being a sufficient guarantee for his respectability, 
as, of course, if he were an improper person he 
would not be there." 

Now if, as here said, presence in a friend's 
house is a sufficient guarantee for respectability," 
why is the respectable" man not to be named, 
but to be left an object of suspicion ? This is just 
as absurd as it is to say, that because a man has 
been named and is no object of suspicion, he has 
therefore a right to call to account those who 
think he has no particular claim on their good 



DEPORTMENT. 



247 



offices in future.'' In shorty the person who is 
not introduced in any society, ought to leave that 
society instantly : it is the most natural and 
correct indication that he should do so; and also, 
if he came by invitation, that he should, as 
AyujyoQ phrases it, call to account'' whoever 
invited him. 

This leads to the next point to be noticed, 
namely, that when one uninvited and unexpectedly 
enters a society, introduction is not called for ; 
and in that case the uninvited individual, if a per- 
son of proper feeling, will withdraw. So also 
when one enters and another is leaving a room, 
introduction is not called for. And this likewise 
is the case, when, in walking with one friend, a 
second one is merely spoken to in passing. 

Having shown these to be errors, because the 
very worth of the little work referred to might 
mislead its readers, I quote with entire appro- 
bation the author's statement as to letters of 
introduction. ^' If, " he says, " you have letters 
of introduction from one friend to another, do 
not take them, but send them, with your card of 
address. If he be a gentleman^ he will return 
your visit as soon as possible ; at any rate it will 
give him an option. 

If a gentleman be the bearer of an * introduc- 
5 



248 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES, 



tion' to you, leave a card with him without fail. 
You are not obliged to invite him, as that is a 
matter of choice. For the same reasons, a letter 
should never remain unanswered a moment longer 
than is absolutely unavoidable." 

When a person — and, as I write for ladies. 
I may say, when a lady entering a room has 
thus been introduced, a vacant chair, not one 
which has just been occupied, is set for her by a 
servant in attendance, by the host or hostess, or 
by the politest person who is near her. 

In sitting, the position of the limbs has con- 
siderable influence on the beauty of the figure. 

The knees are generally left one by the other, 
scarcely separated. Though they should not be 
turned in, it is highly improper to turn them out 
m too marked a manner. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to say, that to cross them one over the other, 
and to embrace them with the hands joined, is 
deemed vulgar. 

To stretch out the legs while sitting, announces 
conceit and pride ; and to bend them up, gives 
a timid and frightened air. 

When a lady is sitting, she generally keeps 
the feet but little apart, or even crossed one over 
the other, the right perhaps over the left, rechning 
on the toe and side, which certainly does not give 



DEPORTMENT. 



249 



to the foot the appearance of being less small 
and elegant. She in general also lowers the 
gown and covers the heel, so as to show httle of 
the foot. 

The position of the arms requires attention. 

The general positions of the arms are about 
the level of the waist, never hanging down or 
being quite stiff, but being gently bent, the 
elbow a little raised, the fingers not stretched out 
stiffly, -but also a little bent, and partially sepa- 
rated, or the hands half crossed one over the 
other, or placed in each other, &c. But every 
one will vary all these positions from time to time, 
as stiffness destroys all elegance and grace. 

Several positions of the arms are vulgar : 
amongst others, the custom of spreading the 
hands separated upon the knees ; that of leaning 
forward and placing the arms upon the thighs ; 
and that of crossing them so as to place the elbow 
in the opposite hands. That of throwing them 
back too much, and keeping them close to the 
side, which is termed grasshopper-fashion, because 
the arms thus trussed bear no little resemblance 
to the elytra of the large green grasshopper when 
in a state of repose, is a mark of affectation, and 
is generally connected with prudery and conceit. 

As to the BODY, the shoulders and chest are 



250 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

kept in position at the same time, but not at the 
expense of each other. This is effected by straight- 
ening the back naturally, and keeping the neck 
in a good position. 

The movements of the body, such as quarter- 
turns and half-turns, should be as natural and 
as easy as the involuntary motion of the eyelids. 
A lady who turns stiffly, or, as they vulgarly say, 
all of a piece, is like the automaton which moves 
only by a spring. 

The position of the neck is of importance, 
as, from its intermediate place, it influences 
both the figure and the face. The neck 
inclining forward makes the back round, makes 
the chin pointed, and gives the whole figure an 
appearance of embarrassment. Leaning back- 
wards, it swells in front, throws back the head in 
a ridiculous manner, and fatigues the sight by its 
constrained attitude. Quite straight, it wants 
elegance. It is, therefore, generally inclined a 
little to one side, by a gentle and almost imper- 
ceptible movement, which gives it a softer 
character, and a more feminine expression ; but 
it is thus apt to acquire the character of affec- 
tation. 

Grace and ease of attitude greatly increase 
the beauty of all parts of the body; whilst 



DEPORTMENT. 



251 



awkwardness and stiftness so diminish it as to 
destroy its value ; and affectation, pretension, or 
neo:lio:ence render it offensive. 

The HEAD thrown back, gives an expression of 
pride and haughtiness ; and, stooping forward, it 
looks awkward. Nothing gives a more dignified 
air to the person than the head finely placed, 
and turning gracefully with every natural 
occasion for turning it, and, especially, without 
affectation. 

The expression of the face should be under 
control in all cases. Attention, astonishment, 
surprise, joy and admiration, carried to an excess, 
are as unpleasant as great egotism, sorrow, fear, 
or insolence. The play of the countenance should 
be very marked on the stage to give force to 
the dialogue, and interest to the scene repre- 
sented; but this should not be the case in society, 
where we should alw^ays preserve a certain dig- 
nified respect for ourselves and for the company. 

Gallini recommends ladies ever to have an 
expression of that sort of gaiety and cheerfulness 
in the countenance, which will give it an amiable 
and even a noble frankness. There may be a 
sprightly openness in the face without the least 
tincture of any indecent air of levity ; as there 
may be a captivating modesty, without any of that 



252 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

bashfulness which arises either from low breeding, 
wrong breeding, or no breeding at all." 

In relation to conversation, as most people 
go into society in the evening to relieve them- 
selves from the pursuits of the morning, it is in 
bad taste to talk to any one upon the subject of 
his daily occupation. Thus we do not talk 
politics with an editor, medicine with a doctor, 
or law with a barrister. 

It is necessary, if we go into society, to keep 
up a knowledge of what is going forward in the 
world; for, without this, conversation is impossible. 

The conversation and even the tone of the voice 
should be always in accordance with the circum- 
stances under which the visit is paid. 

In all mixed companies, it is wise to avoid 
remarks condemnatory of classes and professions, 
doctors, lawyers, or clergymen ; and it is prudent 
to learn enough of the immediate connexions of 
persons present, to avoid giving pain. 

Scandal was formerly the disgrace of English 
society : it is now felt to be base and detestable. 
Even satire, sneering, and mimicry, are most 
unladylike quahfications. 

Very animated conversation, a loud voice, 
immoderate laughter, and everything which 
greatly disturbs the repose and harmony of the 



DEPORTMENT. 



253 



features, disturbs propriety and deteriorates 
beauty. 

The author of Hints on Etiquette very pro- 
perly says, In speaking to ladies of title, do not 
say, ' my lady;' it being only proper for servants 
and tradespeople so to do. 

" We hear much of the courtesy, urbanity, 
and condescension of the aristocracy; and those 
who, in all humility, bow down, will experience 
it; but woe to the unfortunate wight who respects 
himself, who dares to assert his own opinions in 
contradiction to theirs! For an inferior in rank 
to be superior in intellect, abases them, and they 
will dislike him for it accordingly." 

In relation to the management of dress in 
society, it may be observed that if the fire incom- 
modes, a lady may, without impropriety, hold 
at a distance from the face a handkerchief or 
reticule ; but it would be ridiculous to endeavour 
to protect clothes from the action of the fire by 
raising them up, doubling them back, or spread- 
ing a handkerchief over the dress. 

It is also vulgar to be conspicuously careful 
of things which have been taken off, and impo- 
lite to manifest regret for any accident that may 
have befallen dress, such as spots, rents, burns. 
Good manners require that ladies should pay no 

z 



254 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



attention to these, because that would give use- 
less pain to others, and should hasten to turn 
the conversation to some other subject, thanking 
the mistress of the house for the anxiety she may 
manifest upon the subject. 

Every one has often seen stiff country ladies 
in full dress fold up their shawl square, put down 
the bonnet with care, take it up again, and re- 
place it so as to be assured that no contact can 
rumple the trimming. Every one has seen them 
at table spread out and then double back their 
gown, spread out the napkin with conspicuous 
care, and recommend to the servants to be care- 
ful in serving. Every one has seen them, with 
troubled look, following the plate which passes 
over their shoulders, push back the chair when 
their neighbour is going to carve, and redouble 
their anxiety when the champagne froths up close 
by them. 

These spectacles occasionally occur : they make 
us laugh, and speedily turn from them to fix our 
eyes with pleasure upon those amiable persons 
who, though perfectly neat or completely elegant, 
forget their dress, and exhibit an ease and bear- 
ing of the highest character. Between such mo- 
dels, the choice cannot be a matter of hesitation. 

When the occasion of meeting is a dinner, 



DEPORTiMENT. 



255 



none but persons divested alike of common sense 
and common decency exceed the appointed hour. 

I regret that on this subject I must notice 
some antiquated regulations repeated by the 
writer of Hints on Etiquette. 

When the members of the party/' he says, 

have all assembled in the drawing-room, the 
master or mistress of the house will point out 
which lady you are to take into the dining-room, 
according to some real or fancied standard of 
precedence, rank (if there be rank), age, or gene- 
ral importance; that is, the married before the 
single, &c. &:c.; or they wall show their tact, by 
making those companions who are most likely to 
be agreeable to each other. . . The lady of the 
house will, of course, take the head of the table, 
and the gentleman of the highest rank will sit 
at her right hand ; the gentleman next in rank 
will be placed on the left of the hostess ; so that 
she may be supported by the two persons of the 
most consideration (who will assist her to carve). 
— The gentleman of the house takes the bottom 
of the table ; and on each side of him must be 
placed the two ladies highest in rankr 

Now, here we have again the same distinctions 
which I already stated to be often altogether 



256 



APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



wanting, to be frequently absurd, and to be 
always invidious and offensive. Here the writer 
acknowledges that these absurdities and offences 
are to be committed, forsooth, according to 
some real or fancied standard of precedence!" 
Nothing assuredly can be more childish, stupid 
and contemptible. With some feeling of this, 
which I therefore leave for the present, the writer 
presents an alternative — the master or mistress 
of the house will show their tact, by making those 
companions who are most likely to be agreeable 
to each other." But the writer has acknow- 
ledged that the respectability of the parties is 
guaranteed:'' now, does not he think that these 
respectable people will more easily discover who 
are agreeable to themselves than the master and 
mistress of the house can? 

It is owing to such vain, vexatious and offen- 
sive attempts as these to flatter aristocratic feel- 
ings, that a French writer accuses the English of 

the base sycophancy of insulting age the most 
venerable, and genius the most admirable, by 
giving precedence at table to titled idiotcy,'' &c. 
&c. Happily he is wrong: this was indeed 
once found here, as it now is in Germany; but 
the liberal and benevolent spirit of the age has 



DEPORTMENT. 



257 



banished such stupidities, and they are now chiefly 
to be seen among the cunning idiots mentioned 
above, or among vulgar upstarts, where their 
practice is the object of scarcely restrained 
laughter to every enlightened visitor. 

Indeed, that the author of the Hints has suf- 
fered this to pass only from want of due advert- 
ence and consideration, is evident from the 
sentiments he has elsewhere so well expressed. 
He says, The essential part of good breeding 
is more in the avoidance of whatever may be 
disagreeable to others, than an accurate observ- 
ance of the CUSTOMS of good society;" and else- 
where, " Remember that all your guests are 
equal for the time being, and have a similar 
claim to your courtesies : nay, if there be a differ- 
ence shown, those of the lesser rank require a 
little more attention than the rest, that they 
may not be made to feel their inferiority." 

In France, where these offensive absurdities 
are never committed, in the case of a dinner- 
party, when dinner is announced, the mistress or 
the master of the house gets up, invites the com- 
pany to follow to the dining-room, and sets them 
the example by passing out first. It is evident that 
the custom, which Aywyoc calls the present one, 
for the lady of the house to be the last, and to 

z2 



258 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



follow her guests into the dining-room/' is 
equally nonsensical and inconvenient. 

In this case, then, no one rises before the mis- 
tress or master of the house, and every gentleman 
offers his arm to a lady. If it is necessary only 
to pass from one room to another, the gentleman 
gives his right arm to the lady ; but if it is neces- 
sary to ascend or descend stairs, he gives the lady 
the wall, or the side on which the steps are most 
regular and convenient. — {See Plate XXXIV, 

fig- 3.) 

In accepting a gentleman's arm, the lady 
usually passes her hand and wrist within the 
gentleman's forearm; but this junction of arms 
seems to me too complex and intimate for so 
short a journey, and it seems easier and more 
suitable for the lady to place her hand exteriorly 
upon the gentleman's wrist, which on his part it 
is certainly not less respectful properly to present. 

The gentleman, then, conducts the lady to the 
place where she is to sit, and seats himself by her 
side. 

It is lamentable to be obhged to observe that, 
in England, during dinner, as on other occasions, 
servants are almost universally spoken to in an 
unkind tone of command : but it would be unfair 
not to state that they are too apt to presume 



DEPORTMENT. 



259 



upon opposite treatment. For one's own sake, 
however, it would be well to avoid this. France 
nay, Scotland and Ireland, present totally oppo- 
site manners. 

I have great pleasure in referring the reader to 
the Hints on Etiquette for all details as to 
food and feeding at dinner. 

I have only to observe on this subject, that 
generally on the following day, each individual 
composing the dinner party leaves his card for 
the lady of the house where he was entertained. 

I now beg leave to quote, with entire appro- 
bation, the work, on which I have hitherto been 
compelled to make critical strictures. 

On the subject of concerts, the author of 
Hints on Etiquette, observes, There are few 
things a greater seccatura than a long concerto, 
or duett upon the pianoforte, or an * Air with 
(endless) variations'. . . I once sat next to a 
foreigner, who had endured with exemplary pati- 
ence a tedious concerto, and who, when it was 
finished, applauded vehemently, then, turning 
round to me with a droll expression of counte- 
nance, said, ' perche sijlnisce,' 

After reminding us, that Invitations to a ball 



* " Because it's finished." 



260 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES, 



should be in the lady's name, and the answer of 
course sent to her;" that we must ^'w^ear white 
gloves," &c., addressing gentlemen, he observes 
that " With the etiquette of a ball-room, so far 
as it goes, there are but few people unacquainted. 
Certain persons are appointed to act as stewards, 
or there will be a ' master of the ceremonies,' 
whose office it is to see that every thing be con- 
ducted in a proper manner. If you are entirely 
a stranger, it is to them you must apply for a 
partner, and point out (quietly) any young lady 
with whom you should like to dance, when, if 
there be no obvious inequality of rank, they will 
present you for that purpose. Should there be 
an objection, they will probably select some one 
they consider more suitable. But do not, on 
any account, go to a strange lady by yourself, 
and request her to dance, as she will unhesita- 
tingly * decline the honour/ and think you an 
impertinent fellow for your presumption. 

" If a lady should civilly decline to dance with 
you, making an excuse, and you chance to see 
her dancing afterwards, do not take any notice 
of it, nor be offended with her. It might not be 
that she despised you, but that she preferred 
another. We cannot always fathom the hidden 
springs which influence a woman's actions, and 



DEPORTMENT, 



261 



there are many bursting hearts within white satin 
dresses. Therefore do not insist upon the fulfil- 
ment of estabhshed regulations de rigueur." 
Besides, it is a hard case that women should be 
compelled to dance with everybody offered them, 
at the alternative of not being allowed to enjoy 
themselves at all. 

" If a friend be engaged when you request her 
to dance, and she promises to be your partner 
for the next or any of the following dances, do 
not neglect her when the time comes, but be in 
readiness to fulfil your office as her cavaher, or 
she may think that you have studiously slighted 
her, besides preventing her obhging some one 
else. Even inattention and forgetfulness, by 
showing how little you care for a lady, form in 
themselves a tacit insult. 

You will not, if you are wise, stand up in a 
quadrille without knowing something of the 
figure. . . Do not, however, pride yourself on 
doing * steps neatly,' unless you are ambitious of 
being taken for a dancing-master; between 
whom, and to dance like a gentleman there is a 
great difference.*' 

The duties of a lady receiving visitors are par- 
ticularly difficult when the evening is passed in 
dancing; for she must observe, without appearing 



262 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 



to do SO, the ladies who are not dancing, and 
send them partners, taking especial care that 
they do not observe her commission. And to 
fulfil properly these duties, she herself must 
dance but little. 

If a lady is merely invited to a ball, her duties 
are less peremptory and numerous, but not upon 
that account less indispensable. She addresses 
a few words with politeness to her neighbours, 
even though little known to her. If they dance 
much, she may comphment them upon their suc- 
cess ; if, on the contrary, they are left alone, she 
does not seem to perceive it, especially if she has 
been more fortunate ; and, if she can, she contri- 
butes to procure them partners, without their 
suspecting her of the performance of such an 
office. 

In leaving a party of this kind, servants are in 
attendance, but even on less important occasions, 
no one is suffered to go from the room without 
the bell beins: runor to sum^mon a servant to the 
door. 

In getting into a carriage, the lady gives one 
hand to the gentleman assisting her, and raises 
her dress with the other. — {See Plate XXXV, 
Jig, 1), in w^hich the door and the servant who 
keeps it open, are removed from the view. 



DEPORTMENT. 



263 



In mounting on horseback^ the lady places 
her right hand, with the reins and whip, on the 
near crutch of the saddle, her left foot in the 
right hand, or in both hands joined by the inter- 
section of the fingers, of the person assisting her, 
who stoops to receive it, and her left hand on his 
right shoulder. Then, straightening her left knee, 
keeping it firm, and quitting the ground with 
her right foot, she bears her weight on the assis- 
tant's hand, which he gradually and steadily raises, 
by raising himself, (See Plate XXXV, Jig. 2), 
until she is seated on the saddle, when he places 
the stirrup on her left foot. The lady then shifts 
her right hand from the near crutch to the off 
one, and raises herself upright in the stirrup, or 
the assistant may support her left arm with his 
right hand, while with his left hand he draws 
forward the habit next the saddle. The lady 
then places her right knee over the pummel of 
the saddle, and seats herself. 



264 



THE GYMNASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 

In very many conditions of life, the most use- 
ful exercise or employment of muscular action is 
that called forth by indispensable occupations 
and domestic cares. 

On the continent, this is termed the Gymnas- 
tique de Tronchin, because that philosophical 
physician proved the advantages of it to women 
who had neglected it, and persuaded them that 
habits of luxury, and even easy sedentary life, 
were the principal causes of nervous affections, 
and of that weakness of organization which per- 
petually multiplies to them the chances of indis- 
position and disease. 

It is to be observed also that this kind of 
exercise, so suitable to the nature of the sex, 
very happily employs at once the muscles and 
the will, calms mental agitations, and prevents 
that troubled sensibility and nervous irregularity 
which we observe frequently in indolent women, 
who are tormented about frivolous tastes and 
trifling passions. 

The exercise which women of middhng condi- 
tion find in useful occupations, is the more salu- 



THE GYMNASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 265 

tary, because it joins to the natural effects of 
exercise the internal satisfaction which the fulfil- 
ment of a duty bestows: it is, for this reason, 
peculiarly calculated to occupy the mind and to 
prevent it from dwelhng too much upon itself, as 
it does in persons overcome by sloth. 

In cases of habitual suffering and indisposition, 
many females, whose sensibility has been disor- 
dered by a multiplicity of emotions, would find 
their physical condition very promptly ameho- 
rated, if, by applying to themselves this moral 
treatment for ennui, they were kept in a state of 
employment, or lively inquietude, — undergoing 
changes of situation, and compelhng them to 
occupy themselves for some time about the means 
of existing, or any other object capable of em- 
ploying their sensibility. 

It is always a mark of a very low and vulgar 
wojnan to he afraid of being seen or known to 
perform domestic duties. 

The same remarks apply to the practice of jthe 
arts and trades. 

And here it must be observed that, regarding 
those arts which are exercised by means of the 
needle, &c., or which do not require violent or 
difficult movements, as particularly suitable to 
females, it is a matter of disgust to see women, in 

A a 



266 APPLICATION OF EXERCISES. 

our large towns, ben.ding like the savages in 
America under the weight of burthens, or gaining 
a livelihood by the most toilsome labours, whilst 
strong men, usurping the professions of the deli- 
cate and feeble sex, become stay-makers, mantua- 
makers, hair- dressers, haberdashers, and do not 
blush to spend their lives in vending perfumes, 
gauze and lace. 

It is a duty which every woman of generous 
and noble feeling owes to her sex and to huma- 
nity, to discourage the employment of men in 
this way, by ^making purchases in no shop in 
which they find them thus employed. Ladies 
would assuredly attend to this, if they were aware 
of the fact, that shops are filled with these 
epicene and disgusting fellows, on the presump- 
tion, loudly avowed by their masters, that their 
sexual difference makes them agreeable to ladies, 
whom they win to a more profuse expenditure ! 
so that every lady entering a shop of this kind 
has the look of approving of the trap that is thus 
insultingly laid for her! 

The result of this has been noticed by a French 
writer, who says, In England, men sell all the 
little trifles that compose a lady's toilet. This 
custom will never obtain amongst us; and it is 
doubtless the cause of the want of grace and 



THE GYMNASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 



267 



elegance in the dress of English ladies. Females 
alone possess that delicate tact which suggests 
what will improve; men never have their exqui- 
site sentiments of the peculiarities of fashion."* 

The man-milliner should be compelled to 
adopt the dress of the female sex, in order to 
render the metamorphosis complete, and in order 
that this plumage may be in accordance with his 
song: this alone is wanting. At least a petticoat 
over his dress should distinguish such a wretch. 

• ** En Angleterre, ce sont des hommes qui vendent 
tous les charmans colifichets dont se compose la toilette 
feminine. Get usage ne prendra jamais faveur chez nous : 
c'est a lui, sans nul doute, qu'il faut attribuer le manque 
de grace et de gout des parures Anglaises. Les femmes 
seules possedenf ce tact delicat qui fait deviner ce qui doit 
embellir; les hommes n'auront jamais leur sentiment 
exquis des convenances de la mode.'^ 



APPENDIX. 



GAMES. 



These are mere trifles compared with what 
has aheady been done. It was not indeed my 
wish, in this work, as in the Manly Exercises," 
to teach arts of direct and practical utility in 
hfe, which are most suitable to men ; but still 
useful education, and more especially the pre- 
serv^ation and improvement of beauty, and the 
prevention and correction of those usual ten- 
dencies to personal defect, which are inseparable 
from constrained or careless habits, were my 
objects, as here most suitable to women. Edu- 
cation and prevention, then, require more direct 
and systematic means than games. The former 
should, in general, be confided to teachers; the 
latter, with a little maternal, and, in case of 
actual deformity, with a httle medical, guidance, 
may be left mainly to children themselves. It 
is prevention, not cure, that is the object of this 



SKIPPING ROPE. 



269 



work. I therefore notice but the principal of 
these games, and that shghtly. 

LE DIABLE BOITEUX. 

In this game, the shoulders are exercised ; the 
rest of the arms have a stiff and awkward posi- 
tion ; and there is little in it of an easy or grace- 
ful character. — It has no tendency to throw back 
the shoulders or expand the chest, as is done by 
the Indian Exercises. 

L4 GRACE. 

This is a new game, common in Germany, 
but introduced into this country from France. 
It derives its name from the supposed graceful 
attitudes which it occasions. Two sticks are 
held in the hands across each other, like open 
scissors ; and the object is to throw and catch a 
small hoop upon them. The game is played by 
two persons. When trying to catch the hoop, 
the sticks are held like scissors shut : and open 
when the hoop is thrown upward. Compared 
with the means already before the reader, it is as 
inferior as it is childish. 

SKIPPING ROPE. 

The same remark may be made on this game, 
which there are several ways of practising ; by 

A a 2 



270 



GAMES. 



simply springing and passing the rope under the 
eet with rapidity, once, twice, or even thrice ; 
by crossing arms at the moment of throwing the 
rope ; and by passing the rope under the feet of 
two or three, who skip at once, standing close, 
and laying hands on each other's shoulders. 

SHUTTLECOCK AND BATTLEDOOR. 

This game consists of striking a piece of cork 
covered with leather and tipped with eight or ten 
eathers up into the air, with a light racket 
covered with parchment. The object of the 
players is to keep the cork constantly passing 
and repassing in the air. It is a one-handed 
game, in which the right hand will always be 
preferred, and it is therefore particularly objec- 
tionable for young ladies, as ensuring that one- 
sidedness which is the cause of so much mischief. 

EONV AND ARROW, &C. 

The same strong objection may be made to 
- this game, in which the attitude is moreover a 
twisted one. 



Bowls, nine-pins, biUiards, &c. are all Kable to 
similar objections. 



271 



APROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 

Exercise is not equally useful in all climates. 

In warm climates, heat, by calling the vital 
forces towards the circumference, supphes the 
place of exercise in many respects; and the 
debilitating perspirations which excite too greatly 
even without exercise, may render that often 
pernicious. 

Exercise should, doubtless, be varied according 
to the sex of the individual. 

It would, however, be a prejudicial error to 
suppose that females should be subjected only to 
passive exercises. On the contrary, the sedentary 
occupations of women impose upon them, more 
than on men, the necessity of engaging in active 
exercises. 

Exercises should only be more moderate in 
woman than in man. A female, moreover, will, 
with advantage, use those that act upon the 
muscles of the chest, which her mode of life 
affords but few opportunities of exercising. 
With this view, I have already recommended 
in particular, the Extension Motions and the 
Indian Sceptres. 

Exercise should vary according to a^. 



272 APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 

Nature announces to us, by the extreme rest- 
lessness of the infant, the pressing necessity of 
its organization for active exercise. In sponta- 
neous motions, we see very young children 
indulge, with a kind of joy, whenever they are 
for an instant freed from their clothes. This is 
the exercise suited to their age; and it is far more 
salutary for them than all the motions commu- 
nicated by the nurses who toss them about. 

This being equally applicable to infants of both 
sexes, it may be added that the child should be 
taken out often, especially if brought up in 
to^\'n; but should not be kept seated on one 
forearm. This manner of carrying is, even in 
infancy, one of the causes of deviations of the 
vertebral column, which is still in a cartilaginous 
state. The mother or nurse should carry the 
infant on both her arms in a half reclining 
position, that she may give equal support to all 
its parts. Neither should she leave the head, 
which is so large in proportion to the rest of the 
body,, to its own weight. 

Above all things, it is necessary to observe 
that it is the movements that infants make of 
their own accord, which are most useful to them, 
because the quickness of their actions should 
follow the vivacity of their sensations. 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 273 



Medical advisers have often said that the 
exercise which children who cannot yet walk 
should be made to take, ought not to consist in 
being suspended by the armpits, to make them 
beat the ground with their feet. All the appa- 
ratus of leading-strings, by means of which 
nurses foolishly think to make them walk before 
the time appointed by nature, compresses the 
chest, lifts up the shoulders, frequently stops 
the circulation of the blood in the vessels about 
the armpits and injures the respiration and cir- 
culation. The lateral deviation also of the knee- 
joint and ankle-joint may arise from the absurd 
eagerness of parents to make children walk, 
before their limbs are sufficiently strong to bear 
the disproportionate weight that the trunk pre- 
sents at this age. 

The exercise best suited to a child is that 
which it is allowed to take upon a mat or a large 
carpet spread upon the ground. On this species 
of arena, the restless creature should be allowed 
to throw itself about naked, and thus exercise 
itself in turning backwards and forwards as fancy 
prompts : it will thus, by successive efforts actu- 
ating generally all the muscles, soon gain the 
strength by which it will raise and support itself. 
It is similarly the liberty of running about 



274 APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 

granted to children in the country, which, in a 
great measure, produces that strong constitution 
which distinguishes them from children in towns. 

In youth, active exercises are useful, in draw- 
ing into the limbs those vivifying juices which 
frequently direct themselves with too much 
activity towards the organs of respiration and 
those of reproduction. 

When, however, the height of a young person 
exceeds the usual stature, and she becomes sen- 
sibly weaker, nature evidently prescribes absti- 
nence from violent exercise, and requires none 
but what may be necessary to facilitate the assi- 
milation of the nutritive elements. 

To young girls in whom an excess of liveli- 
ness and activity requires to be consumed by 
active and continued movements, passive exer- 
cises are not suited. It is for this age particularly 
that active exercises offer many advantages, and 
may be applied with great success. It is the 
period of development of all the organs, which 
these movements cannot but favor. It is indeed 
the only age at which exercise, the elements of 
which have been stated, is truly useful, because 
if deferred to a later period, they may want the 
activity, suppleness and skill necessary for many 
exercises. 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 275 

In adults, exercise has the good effect of dis- 
tributing, throughout the members, the vital 
liquids, which our pernicious customs concen- 
trate in the abdominal and cerebral oro:ans. 

In old people, exercise relieves the principal 
functions from the feeling of constraint which 
they experience, and frequently prevents those 
mortal strokes which at this age attack the brain. 

Temperament requires to be studied in the 
selection of exercises. 

An individual possessed of a sanguine tempera- 
ment should constantly use active exercises. If 
sanguification or the formation of blood be very 
active, they may be carried so far as to produce 
perspiration. It is the best means of dissipating, 
to the advantage of the nutrition of the muscles, 
the excess of plethora, and superabundance of 
juices, which torment persons of this tempera- 
ment. 

Such persons ought, however, to abstain from 
exercises that require great efforts, on account of 
their predisposition to aneurisms, hemorrhages, 
and cerebral effusions and compressions. 

Passive exercises, or thosem ethods that greatly 
strengthen the fibres without causing any corres- 
ponding loss, and thus induce plethora, would 
be unsuitable to sanguine persons disposed to 
hemorrhage. 



276 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



Active exercises suit individuals of a lymphatic 
temperament, naturally dull, slow and indolent. 

The ancients remarked the good effects of 
exercise upon girls of weak constitutions, of soft 
and lax texture, subject to languid maladies ; 
and they accordingly applied exercise in the cure 
of many diseases that bafRed the skill of the 
physician. The moderns have profited by their 
observations, and made new ones of similar 
tendency. 

It would, however, be imprudent to subject 
suddenly to violent exercise young girls of feeble 
conotitution, with soft skin, pale complexion, and 
lig ht hair, which are proofs of weakness. 

In persons also with soft fibres, whose narrow 
and feeble vessels are plunged in fat, exercise 
must be very moderate, in order not radically to 
wear out muscular forces deprived of primitive 
energy. If it is very violent, or is continued too 
long, it may then sometimes occasion adipose 
inflammations of the viscera. 

To remedy this languishing state, their fibres 
should first be braced by passive exercises fre- 
quently repeated, commencing by those which 
are extremely gentle. Exercise in the open air, 
such as carnage-riding, is particularly useful to 
girls of this constitution. The force and resist- 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 277 

an.ce of the fibres will augment in proportion as 
the fatty and serous plethora dissipates itself. 

A nervous temperament promises superiority 
of the mental faculties ; but it may become the 
source of great evils, if we do not diminish that 
exquisite susceptibility which sooner or later 
would produce them. 

The general effect of exercise is to strengthen 
the body, and counteract the early predisposition 
to a nervous temperament. This temperament 
indeed requires continual exercise. In it, there 
is no danger that, in strengthening the body, we 
may injure those faculties that seem to arise from 
a nervous temperament. With such constitution, 
no one can ever become an athlete, which, as we 
know, is converting mind into brute force. Ner- 
vous girls, then, should be strengthened; it will 
prevent them becoming invahds; it is certain 
they will remain clever. 

A physician accordingly observes that, in 
strengthening the animal economy by exercise, 
we get rid of the nervous in'itability, the sickly 
sensibility, which is the offspring of luxury, and 
parent of vapours, hysterics and hypochondria, as 
well as of the fatal practices which attack the 
sources of life, and which commence at the age 
of puberty and often sooner. By strengthening 

Bb 



278 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



the muscles, exercise moderates this vicious sen- 
sibility. Exercise produces lassitude, and lassi- 
tude sleep; and when a person sleeps soundly, 
she will not be awakened by the fancies of a dis- 
ordered imagination. 

Passive, mixed^ and moderately active exer- 
cises suit a bilious temperament, characterized by 
dryness and extreme rigidity of fibre. The indi- 
vidual should use moderate and sustained exer- 
cise, fit rather to regulate than accelerate the 
march of functions already too rapid. 

Particular dispositions also require particular 
exercises. One cannot endure the motion of the 
most easy carnage ; another suffers from that of 
a boat; a third finds it impossible to ride on 
horseback, &c. It is sometimes desirable to 
combat these dishkes, but we must not obsti- 
nately endeavour to surmount them, when they 
appear determined : it is better, in such a case 
to discontinue the exercise disliked : and fre- 
quently another, even more active, will not pro- 
duce the same inconvenience. 

The habits previously contracted should not be 
overlooked in advising as to exercise. A young 
girl whose condition is sedentary, should not be 
subjected to such exercise as a young man who 
is generally actively employed. The best appli- 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 279 

cation of gymnastics, is that which conducts the 
pupil gradually from the most gentle exercise to 
the most active. 

Without speakmg of acute maladies, in which 
muscular action is always hurtful, there are 
different states of the body in which the utility 
of exercise is very doubtful : there are even some 
in which, by the nature of its direct effects, it can 
do only ill. Such is the case with young girls 
who may be affected with predisposition to apo- 
plexy, asthmaiical diseases, &c. 

It is evident that in general passive exercises 
only should be had recourse to in case of sickness 
and indispositions, because spontaneous move- 
ment might then be more or less injurious. 

Exercise, however, if properly directed, is ex- 
tremely beneficial in convalescence. The reco- 
vering patient who cannot yet walk across her 
chamber, should be carried or wheeled in an easy 
chair, until she can support the motion of a 
carriage. 

Many chronic affections are favourably influ- 
enced by exercise ; but of course it must be taken 
under the precautions we have mentioned for con- 
valescents. In these cases and others analogous, 
where passive exercises are useful, it rarely hap- 
pens that the use of active exercises is successful. 



280 APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 

The same does not hold in scrofulous cases 
where debility, paleness, and want of elasticity 
indicate the necessity of motions as active as the 
strength will admit. It is probable that these 
diseases, so common in infancy and youth, will 
be very rare in children who are regularly trained 
to exercise. 

It is at the age of puberty especially, that 
exercise has an influence remarkably favourable 
over the diseases to which young girls are subject. 

Where girls have been, from their infancy, 
habituated to suitable exercises, the phenomena 
peculiar to them make their appearance much 
later than when they have been brought up in 
idleness and luxury, and consequently at a period 
when the constitution has more power to resist 
the accidents that then occur. 

It is strikingly the reverse, where girls have 
lived in the midst of pleasures, where night is 
turned into day, and spent many of these nights 
in dances, where the salutary effect of motion is 
counteracted by the unhealthy effect oi large 
numbers in a circumscribed space, where there is 
scarcely room to breathe a heated and corrupted 
air. Exercise hke this, far from strengthening t ie 
body, produces only a momentary excitement, 
which increases vicious sensibility, and lays the 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



281 



foundations of a diseased maturity. In some 
cases, where the languid and inert state of the 
organs require rousing, exercise, by exciting the 
action of the principal organ, brings on the* de- 
sired event, and facilitates its periodical return, 
and thus brings back, with more certainty than 
any medicinal means, health, strength and beauty. 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 

In regard to the time (in relation to heat) for 
exercise in the open air, the morning is usually 
directed to be chosen in summer, and the middle 
of the day in winter. 

This rule is not necessary as to exercise taken 
under cover; but violent exercise should never 
be suffered in summer, at that part of the day 
when the heat is most powerful. 

Early exercise, however, wastes the period of 
the day most valuable for thought and study. 
When these are essential, it is best to exercise 
some hours before dinner, as from four to six 
o'clock; and, as Dr. Paris observes, **No person 
should sit down to a full meal, unless he has had 

B b 2 



282 GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



the opportunity of previously inhaling the open 
air, and taken a quantity of exercise, propor- 
tionate to his power of sustaining it without 
fatigue/' 

The state of the body is a circumstance not to 
be neglected. 

Active exercises should not be indulged in, ex- 
cept when digestion has been finished, because 
the animal organization does not properly perform 
several actions at the same time. 

Very moderate exercises, such as walking or 
carriage-riding, may be indulged immediately 
after a meal. Still it is not proper for persons 
who are in a state of perfect health, and in the 
constant habit of using bodily exercise, to prac- 
tise these exercises, however moderate, in the idea 
of aiding in the accomplishment of any kind of 
function of hfe. 

Passive exercise is generally most favourable 
to digestion. 

Meals, on the other hand, should never be 
taken immediately after violent exercise. The 
stimulus produced by them in the economy, de- 
rano:es the order -^f the vital movements, and for 
a time deprives the siomach of the strength requi- 
site for its function. 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



283 



In a perspiration, it is not possible, without 
some danger, to return to passive exercise, during 
which there is inactivity. — Similar precautions 
are still more necessary at certain periods. 

It is also advisable not to commence these ex- 
ercises without satisfying any demands of nature 
that might become troublesome or dangerous. 

The clothes should be made of strong materials, 
not so expensive as to make it of consequence if 
they should be spoilt in the exercise. They 
should not be so tight as to constrain the motions, 
nor so large as to embarrass by their looseness. 
They should contain nothing capable of hurting. 
The shoes should be large. No band should con- 
fine the body or limbs: the shoulder-straps to 
stays should be loosened, and it is better to wear 
neither sash, nor garters. Every thing that may 
prevent freedom of action should be rejected. 

The Exercise-Stays — invented by Mrs. Nicholas 
Geary, Stay-Maker, No. 61, St. James's Street, 
are absolutely necessary in all exercises of the 
arms, and especially in the Indian Exercises, 
for which they were constructed. Their pressure 
on every part of the chest is ^Ught ; and, by an 
ingenious contrivance, of employing very elastic 
shoulder-straps, which are of greater length and 
fixed _ lower than usual, and which also play 



284 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



freely in the lateral direction under a transverse 
band on the back of the stays, the most perfect 
freedom of motion, is ensured. — See Plate 
XXXVI. 

The choice of a place for exercise, is by no 
means a matter of indifference. Other things 
being equal, the body will receive more salutary 
influences from exercises taken in the open air, 
in the middle of a field, in a pleasant agreeable 
country. Independently of its effects upon the 
mind, the breathing a more pure and animating 
air and the exciting action of the light, produce 
an effect which would be in vain expected in a 
confined place, and especially in a room or court- 
yard. 

There are, however, cases in which exposure to 
the open air might produce some inconvenience, 
and in which it is desirable to choose such exer- 
cise as can be taken in a close place. 

Accordingly, a place for exercise cannot offer 
all the advantages to be expected from it, except 
it be sufficiently spacious not only to permit a 
variety of games, but to allow the means, accor- 
ding to circumstances and necessity, of exercising 
either in the open air, or in an enclosed space, 
and in all kinds of situations. 

It is of the very highest importance to bear 

6 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



285 



in mind that active exercises should be so 

DIRECTED AS TO KEEP UP THE REGULAR ACTIO>J 
OF ALL THE MUSCULAR PARTS AND TO EXCITE 
THE ACTION OF THOSE WHICH ARE LESS DEVE- 
LOPED. — It is the attention bestowed on this 
precept which is the means of preventing those 
deviations of the vertebral column, that may be 
observed amongst the majority of young girls. 

Active exercises should be proceeded with 
gradually ; those that require the employment of 
great strength should not be commenced till 
custom has rendered easy those that require less. 

Active exercises should be proportioned to 
what can be spared by the other organs in favour 
of muscular action; for violent and continued 
movements would soon produce disorder. Under 
the influence of such exercise, the palpitations 
of the heart are immoderate, the breathing 
becomes difficult, the heat excessive, the pers- 
piration streams over an inflamed skin, diges- 
tion is deranged, the body loses what it does not 
regain, langour and debility are felt, and falhng 
away takes place without the texture of the 
organs becoming stronger. 

No general rule can be laid down for the 
duration of exercise. What might be easy for 
some would fatigue others. We must therefore con- 



286 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



suit the age, strength, temperament and habits 
so as not to require violent and long-continued 
efforts from one incapable of supporting them. 

The best rule is to stop before we feel fati- 
gued, otherwise we risk the chance of weakening 
instead of strengthening. Motions sufficiently 
violent to produce a painful state of fatigue, 
cannot be continued without efforts which must be 
continually increased, and will speedily produce 
a violent excitement and disorder of the functions. 

Exercise, to be useful and salutary, should be 
frequent rather than violent. 

It is not necessary that exercise should be the 
object of a scrupulous calculation. It is better 
to consult present taste or feeling than chime- 
rical ideas of order and regularity. A life too 
measured out, by subjecting her who assumes it 
to the influence of habit, exposes her more to 
the attacks of disease. Change is even necessary 
to prepare us for violent shocks. 

When the exhaling vessels of the skin act 
powerfully in consequence of violent exercise, 
and perspiration bedews every part of the body, 
it must not be suddenly stopped : the animal 
economy requires this, in order to get rid of too 
great heat; and if it were suddenly suspended, 
the feverish action occasioned by exercise, find- 




GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



287 



ing no longer means of a salutary crisis, through 
cutaneous exhalation, might injuriously influence 
the viscera, and produce there that fluxion 
which was going off by the pores of the skin. In 
this case, those organs, which, in consequence 
of any predisposing cause, were most disposed to 
irritation, would be the first affected. 

To obviate this inconvenience, and give time 
for the fluxion we are speaking of to diminish, 
and cease only when the object of nature is 
attained, it is prudent to resume clothes, if they 
have been diminished during the exercise, or if 
not, and they are impregnated with moisture, to 
change them for others. 

Every one knows that, in this state, no part 
of the body should be exposed uncovered to cold, 
and especially to a draught: drinking a quantity 
of cold water, or placing the hai^ds or feet in 
cold water when the heat is abating, is still more 
carefully to be avoided. These precautions, which 
seem most necessary in winter and cold weather, 
must not be neglected in summer, when heat and 
perspiration are more easily excited. 

In no case, after violent exercise, should the 
exerciser remain in a state of total inaction. 
After violent exercisC; the pupil should indulge 
in more gentle, so as gradually to allay the 



288 GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES- 

excitement raised. If she prefers resting inac- 
tive, she should return to some warrri place to 
dry herself, rub the skin gently, and assume a 
change of linen. 



FINIS. 



PRINTED BY >• AND C. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CI.OSB. 



